US government offers Boeing plea deal – media

Two incidents involving the top-selling 737 MAX jet of the company resulted in the deaths of 346 individuals.

The US Department of Justice is reportedly prepared to allow Boeing to evade a criminal trial on the condition that the aerospace giant admits to a fraud charge tied to two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max planes over five years ago, Bloomberg informed.

Sources indicated that the aircraft manufacturer will make a decision on whether to accept the plea agreement by the close of the week. This information came from conversations between DOJ officials and the families of the victims as well as their legal representatives.

There were two separate crashes of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes— one involving Lion Air and the other Ethiopian Airlines— within less than five months between 2018 and 2019, resulting in 346 deaths.

Reportedly, under the terms of the plea agreement, the company will face a fine of $243.6 million in addition to the $243.6 million it paid as part of a deferred-prosecution agreement in 2021. The deal would also necessitate the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee Boeing’s safety and compliance practices for a period of three years.

Paul Cassell, an attorney representing the families of the crash victims, referred to the DOJ's offer as a "favorable plea deal." He stated, “The deal will not acknowledge, in any way, that Boeing’s crime killed 346 people,” as per an email cited by Bloomberg. He added, “The families will strenuously object to this plea deal.”

In 2021, Boeing consented to pay more than $2.5 billion as part of an agreement with the DOJ after admitting to deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding an obscure flight control system connected to the crashes. In both instances, incorrect sensor readings led the 737 Max 8 jets into a nosedive. Had Boeing adhered to the agreement, the charge would be dismissed after a three-year period, scheduled to expire in July of this year.

Prosecutors accused Boeing in May of failing to establish sufficient compliance measures, contending that the company violated the conditions of the agreement. Boeing refuted this assessment in June, disagreeing with the prosecutors' view that it had breached the deal.