Boeing Set to Plead Guilty in 737 Max Jet Crash Criminal Case

The Justice Department announced on July 7 that Boeing would be pleading guilty to criminal fraud after the DOJ determined that the airplane maker violated the terms of a 2021 settlement agreement that protected Boeing from prosecution.

Justice Department prosecutors in late June gave Boeing the choice of paying a fine, facing trial for conspiracy to defraud the United States, or pleading guilty.

Prosecutors accused Boeing of deceiving federal regulators who approved the 737 Max jetliner and the requirements for training pilots.

Under the plea deal, which must be approved by a federal judge, Boeing must also pay another $243.6 million fine, the same amount as the fine the company paid under the 2021 settlement.

Additionally, the deal includes appointing an independent monitor to oversee the safety and quality procedures at Boeing for the next three years. The company must also invest at least $455 million to improve its safety and compliance programs.

The deal only gives Boeing immunity for the wrongdoing leading up to the 2018 and 2019 crashes of 737 Max jetliners in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed more than 340 people. It does not provide immunity for subsequent incidents, including the January 2024 incident in which a door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max flight out of Oregon.

The deal only gives immunity to the Boeing corporation and not to any current or former Boeing officials.

The Justice Department said it expected to formally submit the plea agreement to a federal judge in Texas by July 19.

Attorneys representing some of the families of those killed in the 2018 and 2019 crashes said they would be asking US District Judge Reed O’Connor to reject the plea deal.

Attorney Paul Cassell described the plea as a “sweetheart deal” that failed to acknowledge that Boeing’s conspiracy resulted in the deaths of 346 people.