Boeing has finalized a guilty plea to criminal fraud charges and agreed to pay at least $243.6 million after breaching a 2021 agreement with the US Department of Justice, according to a court filing released on July 24. A U.S. planemaker allowed potentially risky work at its factories and failed to ensure key plane records were accurate or complete, the U.S. Justice Department said as it outlined why it believed the planemaker violated a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, as reported by Reuters.
Under the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, Boeing has committed to pay $2.5 billion to resolve a criminal investigation into the company’s conduct related to fatal accidents, as well as to introduce improvements in manufacturing processes while addressing the key issue of faulty software solutions in 737 MAX aircraft. The same amount includes financial compensation to the families of the victims resulting from the tragedy. In return, the company was deferred prosecution.
The US Justice Department said in May that Boeing breached its obligations under an agreement that shielded the planemaker from prosecution stemming from false claims about a key software feature linked to the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes involving 737 MAX planes in 2018. and 2019, in which 346 people died. All of this came to light after the Alaska Airlines incident in January exposed continuing safety and quality problems at Boeing, just two days before the expiration of a 2021 agreement that shields Boeing from criminal prosecution over the crashes of two planes in 2018 and 2019.
As part of the plea deal, Boeing agreed to pay a maximum penalty of $487.2 million, and the Justice Department recommended the court take into account its previous payment of $243.6 million from 2021. Boeing also agreed to spend at least $455 million over the next three years to strengthen its safety and compliance programs, the filing said, adding that this was 75% more than Boeing’s previously planned spending on its corporate compliance program.
Boeing previously agreed in principle on July 7 to plead guilty to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration after the government said the planemaker knowingly made false statements about key software for the 737 MAX. Boeing confirmed on the same day that it had submitted a detailed plea agreement to the Department of Justice. “We will continue to work transparently with our regulators as we take significant actions across Boeing to further strengthen our safety, quality and compliance programs,” Boeing said in a statement.
According to all of the above, Boeing knowingly violated the 2021 agreement and avoided criminal prosecution by settling with the court by paying a total fine of 487.2 million dollars, along with obligations to invest 455 million dollars in strengthening the safety program in the production of aircraft. The victims’ families are not satisfied with the final outcome, which is why they are announcing appeals. In addition, the families of the deceased are provided with a legal framework for claiming compensation for the suffering of passengers, before the moment the plane hit the ground.
