Latest news with #MulugetaAyene
Business Mayor
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Boeing, Justice Department reach deal to avoid prosecution over deadly 737 Max crashes
Ethiopian Federal policemen stand at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. Tiksa Negeri | Reuters 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. Rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, March 11, 2019. Mulugeta Ayene | Reuters 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. Family members hold photographs of Boeing 737 MAX crash victims lost in two deadly 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people as Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg testifies before a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on 'aviation safety' and the grounded 737 MAX on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 29, 2019. Sarah Silbiger | Reuters 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. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
Irish Examiner
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Families of victims appalled as Boeing seems likely to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes
Boeing is set to avoid prosecution in a fraud case sparked by two fatal crashes of its bestselling 737 Max jet that killed 346 people, according to sources familiar with the matter. The US Department of Justice is considering a non-prosecution agreement, relatives of the victims were told on Friday, through which the US aerospace giant would not be required to plead guilty. Representatives of the crash victims' families expressed outrage, describing the proposal as 'morally repugnant' after a tense call with senior justice department officials. Boeing and the justice department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The tentative deal between Boeing and the justice department was first reported by Reuters. In October 2018, 189 people were killed when Lion Air flight 610 fell into the Java Sea off Indonesia. In March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa airport, claiming 157 lives. The second crash prompted the worldwide grounding of the 737 Max for almost two years, and left Boeing scrambling to repair its reputation. Investigators from Israel examine wreckage at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crash near Bishoftu in Ethiopia in 2019. File picture: Mulugeta Ayene/AP While Boeing initially resolved a criminal investigation in January 2021, prosecutors accused it of breaching the settlement in 2024. This led the justice department to offer the firm a controversial plea deal last summer. In December, however, US district Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas rejected the agreement. He cited a diversity and inclusion provision related to the selection of an independent monitor. While Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay a fine of up to $487.2m during the final months of the Biden administration, O'Connor's decision meant the Trump administration inherited the case. Under Donald Trump, the justice department has been overhauled, and his administration has faced questions around how aggressively it intends to pursue big companies that break the law. Sanjiv Singh, counsel for 16 families of crash victims, said: 'We are appalled by this sudden possible retreat from criminal prosecution of Boeing. A non-prosecution agreement is morally repugnant and lacks the teeth and bite to cause fundamental change in Boeings safety practices.' Shares in Boeing slipped 0.5% in New York. Read More James Comey investigated over seashell photo claimed to be 'threat' against Trump
