Justice Department says it may drop criminal prosecution of Boeing over Max crashes

Key Points

• The Justice Department indicated it may dismiss the criminal fraud charge against Boeing for allegedly misleading regulators about safety features on the 737 Max, and has given families of the 346 crash victims until May 22 to weigh in.
• Attorney Paul Cassell and many victims’ relatives strongly oppose dropping the case, warning that dismissing charges would dishonor the memories of those killed.
• Boeing’s 2021 $2.5 billion settlement and later plea agreement were upended when a judge rejected the deal over concerns that DEI criteria could influence the choice of a compliance monitor.
• Prosecutors and Boeing are now discussing a potential non-prosecution agreement involving additional fines and compensation, though a trial remains scheduled to start June 23.

The Justice Department may drop its criminal prosecution of Boeing for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to a weekend court filing.

The department said in a Saturday status report that two representatives had met with the families of some crash victims to discuss a potential pretrial resolution that would involve dismissing the criminal fraud charge against the aerospace company.

The Justice Department said no decision had been made and that it was giving the family members more time to weigh in. A federal judge in Texas has set the case for trial starting June 23.

Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families in the long-running case, said his clients strongly oppose dropping the criminal case.

“We hope that this bizarre plan will be rejected by the leadership of the department,” Cassell said in a statement. “Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims who Boeing killed through its callous lies.”

Many relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes, which took place off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, have spent years pushing for a public trial, the prosecution of former company officials, and more severe financial punishment for Boeing.

Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about aspects of the Max before the agency certified the plane for flight. Boeing did not tell airlines and pilots about a new software system, called MCAS, that could turn the plane’s nose down without input from pilots if a sensor detected that the plane might go into an aerodynamic stall.

The Max planes crashed after a faulty reading from the sensor pushed the nose down and pilots were unable to regain control. After the second crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned MCAS to make it less powerful and to use signals from two sensors, not just one.

Boeing avoided prosecution in 2021 by reaching a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department that included a previous $243.6 million fine.

A year ago, prosecutors said Boeing violated terms of the 2021 agreement by failing to make promised changes to detect and prevent violations of federal anti-fraud laws. Boeing agreed last July to plead guilty to the felony fraud charge instead of enduring a potentially lengthy public trial.

But in December, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth rejected the plea deal. The judge said the diversity, inclusion and equity or DEI, policies in the government and at Boeing could result in race being a factor in picking a monitor to oversee Boeing’s compliance with the agreement.

Lawyers for the government and Boeing have spent months discussing a new deal. The Justice Department said in its latest filing that the two sides “discussed a possible framework for a nonprosecution agreement—but have not exchanged a draft written agreement—that would impose obligations on both parties,” including Boeing paying an additional fine and compensation.

Lawyers for the families said they learned during Friday's meeting with the acting head of the Justice Department's criminal fraud section and the acting U.S. attorney for northern Texas that Boeing no longer was willing to plead guilty.

The Justice Department said it had agreed to consider any written submissions by the family members through May 22. After that, the department said it would notify O’Connor promptly about how it wants to proceed.