Boeing and the Department of Justice have come to an agreement for a plea deal that will see the company pay a criminal fine of $243.6 million. The deal comes as a result of two fatal 737 Max planes that caused the deaths of 346 passengers and crew.
The deal has not been met with approval by the families of the victims, who were hoping for a criminal trial to bring the jet manufacturer to account. They called the deal a “sweetheart deal” that allows Boeing to essentially go virtually unscathed.
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Excerpt from www.bbc.com
Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the US found the company violated a deal meant to reform it after two fatal crashes by its 737 Max planes that killed 346 passengers and crew.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) said the plane-maker had also agreed to pay a criminal fine of $243.6m (£190m).
However, the families of the people who died on the flights five years ago have criticised it as a “sweetheart deal” that would allow Boeing to avoid full responsibility for the deaths.
By pleading guilty, Boeing will avoid the spectacle of a criminal trial – something that victims’ families have been pressing for.
The company has been in crisis over its safety record since two near-identical crashes involving 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019. It led to the global grounding of the plane for more than a year.
