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American Military News
4 days ago
- Business
- American Military News
US asks judge to dismiss criminal charge over Boeing 737 Max crashes
The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss its criminal case against Boeing Co. over two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jets more than six years ago, despite objections of family members of some crash victims. The request, disclosed Thursday in a court filing, is part of a proposed settlement prosecutors reached with the planemaker last week. The case had been set to go to trial June 23. The government's agreement calls for Boeing to pay more than $1.1 billion in fees and fines, while taking steps to strengthen internal quality and safety measures. In return, the company will avoid criminal prosecution. It is a notable reversal in the long-running criminal case against Boeing over two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jet in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Just last year, Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to the pending criminal conspiracy charge under a deal that was ultimately rejected by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, who has been overseeing the case since it was filed in 2021. Prosecutors said in the filing that their deal with the company 'secures meaningful accountability, delivers substantial and immediate public benefits, and brings finality to a difficult and complex case whose outcome would otherwise be uncertain.' While the government said some relatives of the crash victims didn't oppose the agreement, other family members plan to file a formal objection with the judge. 'Miscarriage of justice' 'Any resolution that allows Boeing to walk away without an admission of guilt is a miscarriage of justice,' Erin Applebaum, a partner at Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, said in a statement. 'We trust the court will see the agreement for what it is and reject the government's efforts to let Boeing escape accountability for the deaths it caused.' Boeing said in a statement it is committed to complying with its obligations under the agreement, including 'substantial additional compensation' for family members of crash victims. 'We are deeply sorry for their losses, and remain committed to honoring their loved ones' memories by pressing forward with the broad and deep changes to our company that we have made to strengthen our safety system and culture,' Boeing said. The new agreement is similar in many respects to the proposed plea deal that was rejected last year, with one notable exception: Boeing will not plead guilty to the pending criminal charge. Instead, the company will admit to the underlying accusation of 'conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group,' but that admission does not constitute a guilty plea. However, the government could refile criminal charges against the company if Boeing is accused of violating the terms of the agreement, which has a term of two years. Deal terms The agreement requires Boeing to pay a total of $1.1 billion in assorted fines and fees. The total includes: —$487.2 million for a criminal penalty, half of which the company already paid to the government during an earlier phase of the case —$444.5 million for a new 'Crash-Victims Beneficiaries Fund' that will be divided evenly by crash victim —$455 million in investments to bolster its compliance, safety and quality programs Boeing would be required to retain a so-called independent compliance consultant to oversee its efforts to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program. The consultant will be expected to make recommendations for improvements and report their findings directly to the government. In December, O'Connor rejected the company's proposed plea deal because he said it would improperly require race to be considered in the hiring of an independent monitor to review Boeing's actions. The new proposed agreement states that selection of the independent consultant 'will not take into account or otherwise engage in unlawful discrimination based on race, gender, or any other protected class.' Victims' families Finally, the agreement calls for family members of crash victims to have the opportunity to meet with Boeing's board of directors and speak to them about the impact of the company's conduct and about its compliance and safety programs. Relatives have spent years fighting for harsher penalties for Boeing and have opposed past attempts to resolve the case. Both crashes were linked to a flawed flight control system on 737 Max jets. The only Boeing official to face trial was a mid-level manager overseeing the pilot manuals and training materials. He was acquitted. 'While my client and I wanted to see a more vigorous prosecution, my hope is that the criminal case and the lawsuits motivated Boeing to improve safety,' Mark Lindquist, one of the attorneys for the victims' families, said Thursday. 'That's what truly matters.' In 2021, the company reached a deal with the government to defer prosecution in the criminal case, assuming it met certain requirements while under a period of government supervision. Last year, two days before the supervision period was set to conclude and the charge would have been dismissed, a door-sized plug blew out of an airborne 737 Max. While no one was killed, the accident led to investigations and findings of lax controls in Boeing's factories. The case is U.S. v. Boeing, 21-cr-005, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth). ___ © 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
US asks judge to dismiss criminal charge over Boeing 737 Max crashes
The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss its criminal case against Boeing Co. over two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jets more than six years ago, despite objections from family members of some crash victims. The request, disclosed Thursday in a court filing, is part of a proposed settlement prosecutors reached with the planemaker last week. The case had been set to go to trial on June 23. The government's agreement calls for Boeing to pay more than $1.1 billion in fees and fines, while taking steps to strengthen internal quality and safety measures. In return, the company will avoid criminal prosecution. It is a notable reversal in the long-running criminal case against Boeing over two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jet in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Just last year, Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to the pending criminal conspiracy charge under a deal that was ultimately rejected by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, who has been overseeing the case since it was filed in 2021. Prosecutors said in the filing that their deal with the company 'secures meaningful accountability, delivers substantial and immediate public benefits, and brings finality to a difficult and complex case whose outcome would otherwise be uncertain.' While the government said some relatives of the crash victims didn't oppose the agreement, other family members plan to file a formal objection with the judge. 'Miscarriage of justice' 'Any resolution that allows Boeing to walk away without an admission of guilt is a miscarriage of justice,' Erin Applebaum, a partner at Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, said in a statement. 'We trust the court will see the agreement for what it is and reject the government's efforts to let Boeing escape accountability for the deaths it caused.' Boeing said in a statement it is committed to complying with its obligations under the agreement, including 'substantial additional compensation' for family members of crash victims. 'We are deeply sorry for their losses, and remain committed to honoring their loved ones' memories by pressing forward with the broad and deep changes to our company that we have made to strengthen our safety system and culture,' Boeing said. The new agreement is similar in many respects to the proposed plea deal that was rejected last year, with one notable exception: Boeing will not plead guilty to the pending criminal charge. Instead, the company will admit to the underlying accusation of 'conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group,' but that admission does not constitute a guilty plea. However, the government could refile criminal charges against the company if Boeing is accused of violating the terms of the agreement, which has a term of two years. Deal terms The agreement requires Boeing to pay a total of $1.1 billion in assorted fines and fees. The total includes: ▪ $487.2 million for a criminal penalty, half of which the company had already paid to the government during an earlier phase of the case ▪ $444.5 million for a new 'Crash-Victims Beneficiaries Fund' that will be divided evenly among crash victims ▪ $455 million in investments to bolster its compliance, safety and quality programs Boeing would be required to retain a so-called independent compliance consultant to oversee its efforts to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program. The consultant will be expected to make recommendations for improvements and report their findings directly to the government. In December, O'Connor rejected the company's proposed plea deal because he said it would improperly require race to be considered in the hiring of an independent monitor to review Boeing's actions. The new proposed agreement states that selection of the independent consultant 'will not take into account or otherwise engage in unlawful discrimination based on race, gender, or any other protected class.' Victims' families Finally, the agreement calls for family members of crash victims to have the opportunity to meet with Boeing's board of directors and speak to them about the impact of the company's conduct and about its compliance and safety programs. Relatives have spent years fighting for harsher penalties for Boeing and have opposed past attempts to resolve the case. Both crashes were linked to a flawed flight control system on 737 Max jets. The only Boeing official to face trial was a mid-level manager overseeing the pilot manuals and training materials. He was acquitted. 'While my client and I wanted to see a more vigorous prosecution, my hope is that the criminal case and the lawsuits motivated Boeing to improve safety,' Mark Lindquist, one of the attorneys for the victims' families, said Thursday. 'That's what truly matters.' In 2021, the company reached a deal with the government to defer prosecution in the criminal case, assuming it met certain requirements while under a period of government supervision. Last year, two days before the supervision period was set to conclude and the charge would have been dismissed, a door-sized plug blew out of an airborne 737 Max. While no one was killed, the accident led to investigations and findings of lax controls in Boeing's factories. The case is U.S. v. Boeing, 21-cr-005, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth). Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Mint
23-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Boeing Agrees to Resolve US Criminal Case Over 737 Crashes
Boeing Co. has reached a tentative agreement with the US Justice Department that would allow the planemaker to avoid criminal charges for two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jets more than six years ago. The settlement was disclosed in a federal court filing Friday, just weeks before a trial was set to start June 23 in Fort Worth, Texas. It calls for the company to pay more than $1.1 billion and strengthen quality and safety measures, Justice Department lawyers said. It's a stunning turnaround in the long-running legal case. Just last year, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy. But that deal was rejected in December by US District Judge Reed O'Connor, who has been overseeing the case since 2021. The new agreement — reached over strong objections from some victims' families — still needs to be approved by O'Connor. The government said a final agreement will be filed by the end of next week, but provided an overview of the terms in its filing. Among them: a $243.6 million fine for Boeing and a order for the planemaker's board of directors to meet with family members of people killed in the crashes. The tentative agreement would allow require Boeing to contribute $444.5 million to a fund for families of victims killed in the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019, according to the filing. Boeing also would spend $455 million to strengthen its compliance, safety and quality programs, the filing shows. 'Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and Department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits,' prosecutors said in a statement, noting that they'd 'met extensively' with relatives of the victims. After the government submitted notice of the agreement, lawyers representing family members of crash victims told O'Connor they plan to object to the deal and urge him to deny any attempt by the government to dismiss the criminal case against Boeing. 'The families intend to argue that the dismissal unfairly makes concessions to Boeing that other criminal defendants would never receive and fails to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths of 346 persons,' they said in a court filing. Many of the families opposed any deal that allowed Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution. They've fought for years to extract harsher penalties from the company. Both crashes were linked to a flawed flight control system on 737 Max jets. The only Boeing official to face trial was a mid-level manager overseeing the pilot manuals and training materials. He was acquitted. Catherine Berthet, whose 28-year-old daughter Camille Geoffrey was killed in the 2019 crash, said she was 'absolutely stunned' by the proposed agreement. 'I will never get rid of my pain and my tears,' Berthet said in a statement. 'By deciding not to prosecute Boeing and not to take it to court, the government is sending a message to the public that big companies are above the law and justice, even when they kill.' Not all of the victims' families are opposed to the deal, according to prosecutors. In Friday's filing, the Justice Department said family members and lawyers representing more than 100 crash victims either expressed support for the resolution, efforts to end the case before trial or did not oppose the agreement. One family member told the government he wants 'the DOJ to find a way to resolve this matter as soon as possible.' Boeing declined to comment on the deal. The company's shares fell less than 1% on Friday. The case has taken several turns. In 2021, Boeing reached an agreement with the Justice Department to defer prosecution on charges that it deceived regulators about the system. Under that deal, Boeing paid a $243.6 million fine. In early 2024, two days before the charge would've been dismissed, a door-sized plug blew out of an airborne 737 Max. While no one was killed, the accident led to investigations and findings of lax controls in Boeing's factories. The government said Boeing violated the 2021 agreement and recommended a criminal charge. Boeing agreed to plead guilty, pay a fine and install an independent corporate monitor. The agreement also would have required the company spend at least $455 million to bolster its compliance and safety programs. But that proposal was rejected in December by O'Connor. He said the agreement diminished his role in ensuring Boeing lived up to its promises and that the process for selecting an independent monitor would rely on diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which the judge claimed would improperly impose race on the hiring decision. In March, O'Connor ordered Boeing to stand trial in June. While he didn't explain his decision, the order came a day after the Wall Street Journal reported Boeing was seeking leniency from the Justice Department and trying to avoid a criminal charge. The original plea deal was crafted by the Biden administration's Justice Department, which claimed it was standard practice to include language related to DEI policies. Since taking office Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has been eradicating diversity programs within the federal government. The case is US v. Boeing, 21-cr-005, US District Court, Northern District of Texas . This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Why Trump wants a $515 million airplane rife with risks
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has always had strong opinions about the planes used as Air Force One, from their price to their baby-blue color scheme. Frustrated with the growing costs and delays associated with the Boeing Co.'s development of new presidential jetliners, Mr Trump is turning to an unlikely alternative for his next ride: the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, which has offered him a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet. The arrangement has raised numerous questions about security considerations and the ethics of accepting such a gift – even from a strategic ally. Despite those concerns, the Trump administration, on May 21, formally accepted the offer. Here's what to know. What's wrong with the current presidential planes? The president has several aircraft available for his use; 'Air Force One' is simply the call sign for whichever plane is carrying the president at the time. The current fleet includes two Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets and several smaller Boeing 757-200s typically used for shorter trips and smaller airports. The larger planes have been in service for nearly 35 years, and the Air Force has sought replacements for more than a decade. During Mr Trump's first term, the Air Force contracted with Boeing to provide two already built planes – bigger and heavier but more powerful and with a longer range than their predecessors – that would be retrofitted to serve the needs of the president. But those planes, known as VC-25Bs, are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The delays and cost overruns have occurred in part because retrofitting a jumbo jet for presidential use is no small task. A plane used by the president is sometimes called the 'Flying White House' and includes a presidential bedroom, a built-in situation room, a surgical suite, and seats for VIPs, staff and the press corps. Other equipment, to defend the plane against attacks, is classified. What is Qatar offering? The royal family of Qatar – an oil-rich monarchy on the Arabian Peninsula – is giving the US government a plane for Mr Trump's use that's been described as a 'palace in the sky'. ABC News, which first reported the planned offer, said the value of the aircraft is about $400 million (S$515 million). The 13-year-old Boeing 747-8 would have to be refitted with all the presidential accouterments at an unknown cost. The plane was previously on call for Mr Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family who has served as prime minister and head of the sovereign wealth fund. According to a report from Forbes, the Thani family has been trying to sell the plane since 2020. What does Trump say? Mr Trump has repeatedly defended his decision to accept the plane. 'It's not a gift to me; it's a gift to the Department of Defense,' he told reporters at the White House on May 12. 'If we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they're building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture.' In a statement, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said accepting the gift is 'in accordance with all federal rules and regulations'. What do critics say? The arrangement has raised eyebrows from both Democrats and Republicans. 'It's not just bribery, it's premium foreign influence with extra legroom,' said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat,called it 'flying grift'. Some of the fiercest criticism has come from devoted supporters. 'This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true,' far-right activist Laura Loomer posted on X. 'And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump.' What are the security risks of accepting a plane from Qatar? US intelligence experts have expressed concern that the plane could present opportunities for surveillance, tracking or compromising communications of the president and anyone traveling with him. 'If we had built the plane, knowing it was going to a foreign government, we would probably have bugged it,' said Mr Thad Troy, a former station chief with the Central Intelligence Agency. Indeed, part of the reason why Boeing's program is behind schedule and over budget is the complexity of building Air Force One jets in a secure environment with vetted mechanics. The plane gifted by Qatar will have to be carefully inspected for anything that would compromise its security. It will also have to be retrofitted with the physical and cybersecurity measures built into the current fleet of presidential jets. These features – many of which are classified – include a hardened frame designed to withstand evasive maneuvers, countermeasures to detect and evade missiles, and safeguards to protect electronics equipment from nuclear blasts. The Air Force has commissioned defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc. to do that work, the Wall Street Journal reported. 'This is why it takes so long to build Air Force One,' Mr Troy said. 'It has so many things attached to it to make the president safe.' Can the president accept personal gifts from foreign countries? The Constitution forbids anyone holding public office from accepting 'without the Consent of the Congress, any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State'. But in this case, the plane will be donated to the US Air Force, not to Mr Trump personally. What makes the gift unusual is that Mr Trump wants it to go to his presidential library after he leaves office. Donations to such libraries are largely unregulated despite decades of efforts to limit them, including from foreign donors. Mr Trump has said he doesn't intend to use the plane after his term ends. What happens to presidential planes after they're no longer needed? There is precedent for transferring former presidential planes for display at libraries and other presidential sites. A Lockheed Jetstar used by President Lyndon Johnson – sometimes referred to as 'Air Force One-Half' – is on display at the LBJ Ranch, west of Austin, Texas, which is now a national park. A Boeing 747 used from 1973 to 2001 is on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. The National Archives, which operates the library, said the plane is on loan from the National Navy Aviation Museum. But those planes had outlived their useful service life when they were retired. Decommissioning a plane after less than four years would represent far greater waste given the considerable cost of making it safe and secure. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hindustan Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘Don't know why its considered bribery': Qatar defends Boeing gift to Trump
Qatar defended its decision to gift a Boeing jet to the US as a routine transaction between partners, saying the criticism is down to a misguided description of the Mideast Gulf country as a small Arab nation trying to buy influence. 'I don't know why people consider it as bribery or Qatar trying to buy influence with this administration,' Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Tuesday during a panel at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. 'We need to overcome this stereotype.' 'Many nations have gifted things to the US,' he said, invoking the Statue of Liberty, which was gifted to the US government from France in the 19th century. President Donald Trump's administration came under fire from lawmakers for its decision to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the Qatari ruling family. The super luxury Boeing Co. 747-8 jumbo jet is expected to be used as Air Force One, until the US replaces the aging aircraft that are currently in use, after chronic delays by Boeing in delivering two new aircraft President Trump ordered during his first term. The Air Force this month said Boeing is proposing to deliver its new version of Air Force One by 2027. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US Air Force will accept the donation 'according to all legal and ethical obligations.' The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.
