The US Justice Department will file criminal fraud charges against Boeing in connection with two fatal crashes and ask the aircraft maker to plead guilty or face trial, US Media reported.
The Justice Department plans to formally offer Boeing a plea agreement later in the day that includes a financial penalty and the appointment of an independent monitor to review the company’s safety and compliance practices for three years, the sources said.
Justice Department officials plan to give Boeing until the end of the week to respond to the offer, which they will present as non-negotiable, the sources said. If Boeing refuses to plead guilty, prosecutors plan to go to court, they said.
Representatives for Boeing and the Justice Department declined to comment.
Fatal crashes, hundreds dead
The Justice Department decided to file charges against Boeing after it found that the company violated a 2021 agreement that shielded it from prosecution in connection with fatal crashes involving 737 MAX jets. The fatal crashes occurred in 2018 and 2019 and killed 346 people.
Lawyers representing relatives accused the federal government of giving Boeing “yet another lucrative plea bargain.” During a conference call Sunday, a family member of a crash victim asked one official how he sleeps at night.
During the phone call, the family was informed of the terms of the proposed deal: Boeing would pay a fine, receive three years probation and operate under corporate control, according to two sources.
Those terms sparked a wave of outrage. Paul Cassell, who represents the families of the 15 crash victims, said:
“The memory of the 346 innocent people who died in the Boeing crash demands more justice than this.”
Erin Applebaum, another lawyer representing relatives of the victims, called the motion “disgraceful” and said it “completely fails to mention or recognise the dignity” of the victims.
The families will appeal to a judge and the general public to have the deal rejected, Applebaum said. He also added:
“And when inevitably there is another Boeing crash and the Justice Department tries to place blame, they will have nowhere else to look but in the mirror.”
The former Boeing employee who uncovered problems with the aircraft was previously reported to have been found dead.
Former Boeing engineer John Barnett, who publicly raised concerns about the company’s manufacturing standards and aircraft safety issues, was found dead in his truck in South Carolina.
