By T. Jayani, JadeTimes News
Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the US government found that the company violated a previous agreement intended to reform it following two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max planes, which resulted in the deaths of 346 passengers and crew. The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that Boeing would also pay a criminal fine of $243.6 million (£190 million). However, families of the victims from the crashes five years ago have criticized this resolution as a "sweetheart deal" that allows Boeing to evade full accountability for the deaths.
By pleading guilty, Boeing will avoid a criminal trial, which the victims' families had been advocating for. The company has faced ongoing scrutiny over its safety record since the 2018 and 2019 crashes, leading to a global grounding of the 737 Max for more than a year. In 2021, prosecutors charged Boeing with conspiracy to defraud regulators, accusing it of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the MCAS flight control system implicated in the crashes. Boeing agreed to pay a penalty and undergo a three year period of increased monitoring and reporting to avoid prosecution.
However, in January, just before the monitoring period was set to end, a door panel on a Boeing plane operated by Alaska Airlines blew out shortly after take off, necessitating an emergency landing. Although there were no injuries, the incident intensified scrutiny of Boeing's progress in improving its safety and quality standards. In May, the DoJ found that Boeing had violated the terms of the agreement, paving the way for prosecution.
Boeing's decision to plead guilty marks a significant blemish for the company, now having a criminal record despite being a major military contractor for the US government and one of the world's leading manufacturers of commercial jets. The impact of this criminal record on Boeing's contracting business remains unclear, as the government typically bars or suspends firms with criminal records from bidding but can grant waivers.
Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing some of the families of the 2018 and 2019 crash victims, expressed that "the memory of 346 innocents killed by Boeing demands more justice than this," and urged the DoJ to fine Boeing over $24 billion. Ed Pierson, executive director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety and a former senior manager at Boeing, called the plea "seriously disappointing" and "a terrible deal for justice," criticizing the lack of individual accountability.
The 2018 crash of a Boeing 737 Max operated by Indonesia's Lion Air killed all 189 people on board, followed by the Ethiopian Airlines crash months later, which killed all 157 passengers and crew. As part of the 2021 agreement, Boeing also agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including a $243 million criminal penalty and $500 million to a victims' fund, which outraged family members who were not consulted on the terms and demanded a trial for the company.
Despite recommendations from senior DoJ staff to pursue prosecution, the DoJ opted for a plea deal, possibly due to concerns over the strength of their case. Mark Forkner, a former Boeing technical pilot and the only person criminally charged in connection with the crashes, was acquitted by a jury in 2022. Mark Cohen, a professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University specializing in corporate punishments, noted that prosecutors often favor plea deals or deferred prosecution agreements to avoid trial risks and gain more control over a company.
Cohen acknowledged that Boeing's status as a key government contractor likely influenced the decision, emphasizing the importance of considering collateral consequences. Boeing's issues with the MCAS system are not its first legal troubles; since 2015, the company has paid millions in penalties to the FAA for various claims of improper manufacturing and other issues. Additionally, Boeing continues to face investigations and lawsuits related to the January incident on the Alaska Airlines flight.
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