Boeing to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud government in deal with DOJ over 737 Max crashes

On Sunday, Boeing, headed by CEO David Calhoun, accepted the terms of an agreement set forth by the Department of Justice regarding the company's response to two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 caused, at least in part, due to malfunctioning flight-control software. The airplane manufacturer will plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government for allegedly violating a deferred-prosecution agreement filed in 2021 that required it to make necessary changes to its manufacturing operations. 

In addition to the guilty plea, Boeing will also pay a fine of $487 million on top of the tens of millions it paid via a previous settlement, agree to be overseen by a third-party monitor while on probation for three years, put $455 million into programs aimed at increasing compliance, and have its board of directors meet with families of the hundreds of people who died or were injured in the aforementioned crashes.

According to Politico, Boeing revealed that a deal had been agreed upon "subject to the memorialization and approval of specific terms," but did not comment further. A formal agreement it set to be filed in the coming days. The crashes in question took place in Indonesia and Ethiopia, and claimed the lives of 346 people. As the New York Times reports, a lawyer for over a dozen of the families said that the agreement does not go far enough and is "clearly not in the public interest."

"This sweetheart deal fails to recognize that because of Boeing's conspiracy, 346 people died," Paul Cassell lamented. "Through crafty lawyering between Boeing and the DOJ, the deadly consequences of Boeing's crimes are being hidden."

The 2021 charge revolved around two Boeing employees accused of failing to disclose information to the Federal Aviation Administration regarding the software involved in the crashes. As part of the settlement, in which it paid over $240 million in fines and $500 million to the victims' families, Boeing had been required not to commit any crimes during the following three year period. In May, the DOJ argued the company had failed to properly "design, implement, and enforce" a program to ensure no further breaking of fraud laws in the US.