by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:55 AM ET, Mon July 8, 2024
American aviation company Boeing has been at the center of a safety controversy and several federal investigations in recent years, and today it’s pleading guilty to criminal fraud in the fatal Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes that occurred in 2018 and 2019, both on Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft.
The U.S. Department of Justice accused Boeing of “conspiracy to defraud the government by misleading regulators about its inclusion of a flight-control system” on the Boeing 737 Max, the aircraft that led to two deadly crashes that left 346 passengers dead in October 2018 and March 2019.
While the guilty plea would turn Boeing into a felon, the aerospace giant would avoid a trial with its guilty plea, instead being fined by the Justice Department $487.2 million. That number would be cut in half under a previous deal, according to CNBC, so the fine would cost the company $243.6 million.
The deal was released by the Justice Department on Sunday, July 7, citing that Boeing violated a 2021 settlement that protected it from prosecution for the past three years. The agreement required Boeing to pay $2.5 billion in criminal fines, compensation to airlines and a $500 million fund to victims’ family members.
As part of the deal, an independent compliance monitor would oversee compliance at Boeing for the next three years. The company would also invest at least $455 million into compliance and safety programs.
Its board of directors will also meet with the crash victims’ family members.
The agreement is awaiting approval from a judge, though CNBC reports that Paul Cassell, a lawyer for crash victims’ family members, plans to ask the judge to reject the agreement to allow for the matter to be settled by a jury in a public trial.
This certainly isn’t the first time that Boeing has been caught on the wrong side of the law. Just last month, it was fined $72 million in a federal case for being caught stealing trade secrets from hybrid-electric plane manufacturer, Zunum Aero.
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