A family who lost a member in the tragic crashes involving Boeing’s 737 Max may soon have a final opportunity to push for criminal charges against the company. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Texas will hear arguments regarding a U.S. motion to dismiss felony charges against Boeing.
The company has been indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud regarding crashes that claimed 346 lives—one off the coast of Indonesia and another off Ethiopia.
Federal prosecutors assert that Boeing misled regulators about the flight control systems tied to these disastrous incidents, which happened in 2018 and 2019, just months apart.
Boeing had initially opted to plead guilty to a deal, but U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor rejected this agreement back in December.
Now, as O’Connor deliberates whether to allow the dismissal of conspiracy charges, his stance on diversity and inclusion policies mixes complex legal considerations with the fate of Boeing’s reform promises, potentially involving independent oversight.
Legal representatives for the families of the victims are advocating for more stringent consequences for Boeing, particularly aiming for harsher penalties for a former executive charged in a public trial. Yet, delays in the proceedings appear to have benefitted Boeing.
The judge’s rejection of the plea deal allowed the company to contest the Department of Justice’s claims, which means prosecutors must now construct a new agreement to move forward.
Handling Complex Cases
The government and Boeing spent about six months renegotiating the plea deal.
During this time, President Trump put an end to a diversity initiative that had initially halted O’Connor, further complicating the legal landscape.
By late May, as the DOJ’s fraud section updated the judges, the issue of charges and pleas had become moot. Ultimately, non-prison agreements emerged where the government would either dismiss the charges or impose a hefty fine while ensuring compensation for crash victims’ families and bolstering safety protocols.
The Justice Department noted the “substantial changes” made by Boeing regarding quality control and compliance programs since the initial plea agreement in July 2024.
They also expressed concerns that pushing for a criminal conviction could be counterproductive, believing the revised agreement brings meaningful accountability while resolving what they termed “challenging and complex cases.”
On Wednesday, Judge O’Connor invited some family members to attend the court session. Katherine Bursett, whose daughter Kamille Jeffrey died at 28 in the Ethiopian Airlines crash shortly after takeoff, plans to address the court. She is among about 30 families advocating for a special prosecutor to take over the case.
Bursett commented, “It’s not surprising that Boeing wants to resolve everything quietly, but the DOJ’s decision to avoid indicting the company, despite the judge’s ruling, shows a shocking disregard for the victims.”
Government Stance on the Case
Attorneys from the Justice Department argue that many families of the 110 crash victims either back the pre-trial resolution or have no objections to the proposed non-prison agreement.
They are also contesting whether O’Connor can deny motions unless there’s proof of malicious intent on the prosecution’s side.
Federal judges typically defer to the prosecutor’s discretion in such scenarios, though this isn’t guaranteed.
In this case, the DOJ aims to retain the ability to reinstate conspiracy charges if Boeing defaults on the agreement within the next two years.
Boeing had earlier struck a settlement in 2021 that shielded it from criminal charges, but a year later, the DOJ deemed it had violated the agreement, leading to the reinstatement of charges.
Crucial Software Issues
This legal battle largely revolves around the software that contributed to the crashes. In the incidents from 2018 and 2019, faulty readings from a single sensor caused the planes to descend uncontrollably, frustrating pilots from airlines like Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines trying to regain steering.
Transportation inspectors revealed that Boeing had alerted key FAA officials to changes it made to the MCAS software before establishing pilot training protocols for the MAX after the crashes.
Inaccurate data led to FAA approving minimal online training for pilots while avoiding mandatory flight simulator training, which would have incurred higher costs for airlines adopting the Max model.
The aircraft had a tremendous launch in 2017 but following the Ethiopian crash, was grounded for 20 months while Boeing revised its software.
Late in Trump’s first term, the DOJ accused Boeing of conspiring to defraud the government but later agreed to defer charges, allowing time for a $2.5 million settlement aimed at enhancing its ethics and compliance frameworks.
The 2021 settlement lapsed when a panel covering an unutilized emergency exit detached during an Alaska Airlines flight last year, which, although without serious injuries, raised alarms about Boeing’s safety practices.
To date, the only individual charged in relation to the crashes is a former Boeing test pilot, who was acquitted in March 2022 for misleading the FAA about pilot training specifics.
