Justice Department says it may drop criminal prosecution of Boeing over
Max crashes
[May 19, 2025]
By ALAN SUDERMAN
The Justice Department may drop its criminal prosecution of Boeing for
allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before
two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to a weekend
court filing.
The department said in a Saturday status report that two representatives
had met with the families of some crash victims to discuss a potential
pretrial resolution that would involve dismissing the criminal fraud
charge against the aerospace company.
The Justice Department said no decision had been made and that it was
giving the family members more time to weigh in. A federal judge in
Texas has set the case for trial starting June 23.
Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families in the long-running
case, said his clients strongly oppose dropping the criminal case.
“We hope that this bizarre plan will be rejected by the leadership of
the department,” Cassell said in a statement. “Dismissing the case would
dishonor the memories of 346 victims who Boeing killed through its
callous lies.”
Many relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes, which took
place off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months
apart in 2018 and 2019, have spent years pushing for a public trial, the
prosecution of former company officials, and more severe financial
punishment for Boeing.
Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration
about aspects of the Max before the agency certified the plane for
flight. Boeing did not tell airlines and pilots about a new software
system, called MCAS, that could turn the plane’s nose down without input
from pilots if a sensor detected that the plane might go into an
aerodynamic stall.
The Max planes crashed after a faulty reading from the sensor pushed the
nose down and pilots were unable to regain control. After the second
crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned
MCAS to make it less powerful and to use signals from two sensors, not
just one.
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Boeing avoided prosecution in 2021 by reaching a $2.5 billion
settlement with the Justice Department that included a previous
$243.6 million fine.
A year ago, prosecutors said Boeing violated terms of the 2021
agreement by failing to make promised changes to detect and prevent
violations of federal anti-fraud laws. Boeing agreed last July to
plead guilty to the felony fraud charge instead of enduring a
potentially lengthy public trial.
But in December, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth
rejected the plea deal. The judge said the diversity, inclusion and
equity or DEI, policies in the government and at Boeing could result
in race being a factor in picking a monitor to oversee Boeing’s
compliance with the agreement.
Lawyers for the government and Boeing have spent months discussing a
new deal. The Justice Department said in its latest filing that the
two sides “discussed a possible framework for a nonprosecution
agreement—but have not exchanged a draft written agreement—that
would impose obligations on both parties,” including Boeing paying
an additional fine and compensation.
Lawyers for the families said they learned during Friday's meeting
with the acting head of the Justice Department's criminal fraud
section and the acting U.S. attorney for northern Texas that Boeing
no longer was willing to plead guilty.
The Justice Department said it had agreed to consider any written
submissions by the family members through May 22. After that, the
department said it would notify O’Connor promptly about how it wants
to proceed.
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