Donald Trump’s government has reached an agreement with the Boeing aircraft manufacturer that will allow the aeronautical giant to avoid being prosecuted for allegedly deceiving the US regulatory authorities on the 737 Max plane before two of these devices crashed and caused the death of 346 people, according to and
Prosecutors notified the Court this Friday had reached an “principle agreement” with Boeing on the terms of a non -prosecution agreement. “The parties are quickly proceeding to capture the terms in a written agreement. Once the agreement has been completed and signed, the Government will present without delay, with the consent of Boeing, a motion to dismiss without prejudice,” the case said, the Department of Justice said, which plans to present the motion at the latest on May 30, 2025.
By virtue of the agreement, which must be approved by the judge, Boeing would pay and invest more than 1.1 billion dollars, including a fine of 487.2 million dollars (of which the company has already disbursed additional 445 million for the families of the victims of the accident (which add to a fund of 500 million dollars previously established to compensate for the heirs, family and legal beneficiaries of the 346 passengers that They died in accidents) and 455 million to reinforce the regulatory compliance programs, safety and quality control of the company.
Boeing will admit having conspired to obstruct and prevent the legal functioning of the aircraft evaluation group of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The agreement will not provide protection against prosecution for any other undue conduct. In return, the Department of Justice has agreed to withdraw the fraud charges against Boeing, which allows the manufacturer to avoid a possible criminal conviction that could have jeopardized its federal contractor status.
In addition to financial investments in compliance, safety and quality, Boeing must continue to improve the effectiveness of its compliance and ethics program against fraud, and maintain an independent consultant on compliance with empowered to formulate recommendations for improvement and forced to directly inform the government of its conclusions,
“Ultimately, when applying the facts, law and policy of the department, we are sure that this resolution is the most fair and practical benefits,” said a spokesman for the Department of Justice in a statement cited by the AP agency. “Nothing can alleviate the losses of the victims, but this resolution makes Boeing responsible financially, provides a definitive resolution and compensation for families and has an impact on the safety of future air travelers,” he added.
Boeing for which he agreed to pay a total of more than 2.5 billion dollars. This figure included this first criminal monetary sanction of 243.6 million dollars, more compensation payments to the airlines of 1,770 million dollars, and the establishment of a fund of 500 million dollars to compensate for the heirs, family and legal beneficiaries of the 346 passengers who died in accidents.
The Department of Justice considered that the company breached other commitments assumed in that agreement and therefore initiated a new criminal case. In that new case, which is now about to close, instead of facing a public trial that could be extended for a long time. However, in December, federal judge Reed O’Connor, of Fort Worth, rejected the judicial agreement.
In March, O’Connor ordered Boeing to undergo trial in June a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing was looking for the indulgence of the Department of Justice and trying to avoid a criminal accusation, as has happened.
Boeing also agreed to pay a fine of 200 million dollars to the securities and stock market commission (the SEC). The company and its former CEO Dennis A. Muilenburg assured in public that the 737 Max was “as safe as any plane that has crossed the skies” although they already knew that something failed. The SEC concluded that they cheated the investors and imposed that a fine of 200 million dollars to the company and another one million to the manager, according to that money there were no parals of victims but for investors.
A month after Flight 610 of Lion Air, one in October 2018, 13 minutes after takeoff, leaving 189 fatal victims between passengers and crew, Boeing issued a statement that suggested that the pilot’s error and the bad maintenance of the aircraft contributed to the accident. The company gave guarantees of the safety of the plane, without revealing that an internal security review had determined that the MCAS, a flight control function that acts as an automatic stabilizer of the plane, raised a security problem and that Boeing had already begun to redesign that system to correct it.
The 737 Max continued flying. On March 10, 2019, the, operated by another plane of the same model, also crashed shortly after takeoff killing 157 people. The data immediately revealed the malfunction of the MCAS prevented pilots from taking control of the plane. International aviation regulators decided to immobilize the entire 737 Max fleet. The 737 Max took 20 months to fly again since the licenses were withdrawn.
