The US Justice Department is pressuring Boeing to plead guilty to criminal fraud in connection with the deadly crashes of its 737 Max jetliners. The plea deal includes a financial penalty, three years of probation, and independent safety audits. However, victims’ families are demanding a stronger punishment, including a criminal trial and a $24.8 billion fine.
The DOJ accused Boeing of violating a settlement agreement related to the crashes, where the company admitted to misleading air-safety regulators. Family members of the 346 crash victims are outraged at the plea deal offer, with one calling it a “reworking of letting Boeing off the hook.”
The plea deal would prevent a judge from increasing Boeing’s sentence for a conviction, leading some families to plan to ask the judge to reject the deal. The families’ lawyers argue that the plea deal does not hold Boeing accountable for the deaths caused by the crashes, calling it a “sweetheart deal.”
Boeing’s potential conviction could threaten its contracts with the Pentagon and NASA, but federal agencies can grant waivers to convicted companies to maintain eligibility for government contracts. The DOJ has not indicated whether it will prosecute any current or former Boeing executives, another demand of the families.
Boeing recently announced plans to acquire aerospace supplier Spirit AeroSystems, aiming to improve safety by aligning production systems and workforce priorities. The impact of a potential plea deal on other investigations into Boeing, including the door plug blowout incident on an Alaska Airlines flight, remains unclear.
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