Lawyers representing families of those killed in the twin Boeing 737 Max crashes argued in court papers Monday that an independent corporate watchdog should be established to oversee the company amid growing concerns about the safety of its products.
The allegations relate to two deadly crashes linked to defects in Boeing 737 Max 8 jets that killed about 350 people in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing on fraud charges in 2021 but challenged it last month, alleging that Boeing is now in violation of that agreement.
Citing two tense Senate hearings earlier this year about Boeing’s safety culture, the lawyers argue there is more than enough evidence to overturn a federal judge in Texas’ ruling last year not to create such a watchdog.
“This new, credible, and growing information of serious concern should change the Court’s prior conclusion that ‘the factual record does not exist’ to justify a determination that ‘Boeing, while under continuing government surveillance, poses an ongoing threat to public safety,” the lawyers argued. “This new information provides a sufficient basis to make such a determination today.”
Senators grilled Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun at a Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing last week about the Justice Department agreement and other safety concerns with the company.
“Mr. Calhoun, I think the truth is that you’re not focused on safety, you’re not focused on quality, you’re not focused on transparency,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said during the hearing. “All of that is on the record, but I think you’re actually focused on what you were hired to do – which is to cut corners, eliminate safety procedures, pressure employees, cut jobs, because you’re trying to squeeze every penny you can out of this company.”
The families argued that an independent corporate watchdog would “restore public confidence in Boeing’s safety.” They recommended that the watchdog be appointed by Javier de Luis, an aviation lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who previously served on a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) panel investigating Boeing’s safety culture.
The filing comes as the Justice Department is considering filing criminal charges against the company for allegedly violating the agreement. Reuters reported on Sunday that Justice Department prosecutors have recommended the charges but that a final decision has not yet been made.
The looming charges add to Boeing’s ongoing crisis over aircraft safety, which has been reeling since a door on one of its 737 Max 9 planes blew off in flight in January. No one was injured, but the incident led to the grounding of all such planes and sparked a major investigation by the FAA.
The investigation has found poor safety checks and manufacturing errors in Boeing’s manufacturing process, and the company has come under pressure from regulators and Congress to address the problems.
“Boeing has a problem with their safety culture. Their priorities are focused on production, not safety and quality,” FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said in March. “So what we’re really focused on now is shifting that focus from production to safety and quality.”
The FAA said its six-week audit of Boeing “found multiple instances in which the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.”
