logo
Boeing, Justice Department reach deal to avoid prosecution over deadly 737 Max crashes

Boeing, Justice Department reach deal to avoid prosecution over deadly 737 Max crashes

CNBC23-05-2025

The U.S. Justice Department said Friday that it has reached a deal with Boeing to avoid prosecution over two crashes of the plane maker's 737 Max that killed 346 people.
The so-called non-prosecution agreement would allow Boeing, a major military contractor and top U.S. exporter, to avoid being labeled a felon. The decision means Boeing won't face trial as scheduled next month.
The Justice Department said it reached a deal with Boeing in a letter to victims family members, which was seen bc CNBC. Boeing and the DOJ didn't immediately comment.
Boeing has been trying for years to put the two crashes of its best-selling Max planes — a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight less than five months later — behind it. The Maxes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years after the second crash, a pause that gave rival Airbus a head start to recover from the Covid pandemic.
But families of the crash victims have criticized previous agreements as sweetheart deals for Boeing, called for more accountability from the company and said its executives should stand trial. In 2022, a former chief technical pilot for Boeing was acquitted on fraud charges tied to the Max's development.
The aerospace giant reached a settlement in 2021 in the final days of the first Trump administration that shielded it from prosecution for three years.
Under that deal, Boeing agreed to pay a $2.51 billion fine to avoid prosecution. That included a $243.6 million criminal penalty, a $500 million fund for crash victims family members and $1.77 billion for its airline customers.
That 2021 settlement was set to expire two days after a door panel blew out of a nearly new 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines on Jan. 5, 2024, after the aircraft left Boeing's factory without key bolts installed.
But last year, U.S. prosecutors said Boeing violated the 2021 settlement, accusing the company of failing to set up and enforce a compliance and ethics program to detect violations of U.S. fraud laws.
Last July, toward the end of the Biden administration, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to the criminal fraud charge in a new settlement. A federal judge later rejected the plea deal, citing concerns with a diversity, equity and inclusion requirements for choosing a corporate monitor.
Under that 2024 deal, Boeing would have faced a fine of up to $487.2 million, though the Justice Department recommended that the court credit Boeing with half that amount it paid under the previous agreement.
The U.S. had accused Boeing of conspiracy to defraud the government by misleading regulators about its inclusion of a flight-control system on the Max that was later implicated in the two crashes.
"Boeing's employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception," then-acting Assistant Attorney General David Burns of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said at the time of the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.
Messages revealed in an investigation into the Max's development showed the former top Boeing pilot who was found not guilty of fraud in 2022, Mark Forkner, told the FAA to delete the flight-control system known as MCAS from manuals and, in a separate email, he boasted about "jedi-mind tricking" regulators into approving the training material.
Lawyers for victims' family members railed against last year's preliminary plea deal, equating it to a slap on the wrist for the corporate giant, which recently won a contract worth billions to built the next-generation fighter jet.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

What the 'Big, Beautiful' tax bill means for municipal bonds
What the 'Big, Beautiful' tax bill means for municipal bonds

Yahoo

time35 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

What the 'Big, Beautiful' tax bill means for municipal bonds

JPMorgan raised its forecast for municipal bond sales in 2025 to $560 billion as US lawmakers deliberate over President Trump's "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill in the Senate. Goldman Sachs Asset Management co-head of municipal fixed income Sylvia Yeh weighs in on what policy changes to the US tax code could mean for municipal bond investors, as well as valuation catalysts in comparison to Treasury yields (^TYX, ^TNX, ^FVX). Goldman Sachs manages several municipal bond ETFs (GMUB, GCAL, GMNY, GUMI). To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data

US still dependent on Canadian oil, despite Trump's claims, Cenovus CEO says
US still dependent on Canadian oil, despite Trump's claims, Cenovus CEO says

Yahoo

time36 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

US still dependent on Canadian oil, despite Trump's claims, Cenovus CEO says

CALGARY (Reuters) -The U.S. is still reliant on Canadian oil imports, despite claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump, Cenovus Energy's CEO said on Tuesday at a conference in Calgary, Alberta. Trump has threatened on-again, off-again tariffs on Canada's oil, of which nearly 4 million barrels per day are exported to the United States. Canada also remains dependent on U.S. energy systems, Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie said, adding the country must diversify its customer base. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

LA protests far different from '92 Rodney King riots
LA protests far different from '92 Rodney King riots

Yahoo

time40 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

LA protests far different from '92 Rodney King riots

The images of cars set ablaze, protesters tossing rocks at police and officers firing nonlethal rounds and tear gas at protesters hearkens back to the last time a president sent the National Guard to respond to violence on Los Angeles streets. But the unrest during several days of protests over immigration enforcement is far different in scale from the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of white police officers who were videotaped beating Black motorist Rodney King. President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act to call in the National Guard after requests from Mayor Tom Bradley and Gov. Pete Wilson. After the current protests began Friday over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 4,100 National Guard troops and 700 Marines despite strident opposition from Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Trump cited a legal provision to mobilize federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday saying Trump had overstepped his authority. Outrage over the verdicts on April 29, 1992 led to nearly a week of widespread violence that was one of the deadliest riots in American history. Hundreds of businesses were looted. Entire blocks of homes and stores were torched. More than 60 people died in shootings and other violence, mostly in South Los Angeles, an area with a heavily Black population at the time. Unlike the 1992 riots, protests have mainly been peaceful and been confined to a roughly five-block stretch of downtown LA, a tiny patch in the sprawling city of nearly 4 million people. No one has died. There's been vandalism and some cars set on fire but no homes or buildings have burned. At least 50 people have been arrested for everything from failing to follow orders to leave to looting, assault on a police officer and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail. Several officers have had minor injuries and protesters and some journalists have been struck by some of the more than 600 rubber bullets and other 'less-lethal' munitions fired by police. The 1992 uprising took many by surprise, including the Los Angeles Police Department, but the King verdict was a catalyst for racial tensions that had been building in the city for years. In addition to frustration with their treatment by police, some directed their anger at Korean merchants who owned many of the local stores. Black residents felt the owners treated them more like shoplifters than shoppers. As looting and fires spread toward Koreatown, some merchants protected their stores with shotguns and rifles.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store