Families of Boeing 737 Max crash victims ask US to seek US$24 billion fine
The Justice Department said in May it determined Boeing violated a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement that shielded the company from a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit fraud arising from fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
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Boeing Max plane grounded globally after mid-air blowout leaving hole the size of a door
Boeing last week told the government it did not violate the agreement. Federal prosecutors have until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of their plans, which could be proceeding with a criminal case or negotiating a plea deal with Boeing. The Justice Department could also extend the deferred prosecution agreement for a year.
Justice Department officials found that Boeing violated the deferred prosecution agreement after a panel blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane on January 5, just two days before the 2021 agreement expired. The incident exposed continued safety and quality issues at Boeing.
In the letter, the families also said Boeing’s board of directors should be ordered to meet them, and the department should “launch criminal prosecutions of the responsible corporate officials at Boeing at the time of the two crashes”.
Boeing and the Justice Department did not immediately comment.
The letter noted that US Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and held a hearing with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Tuesday, said: “There is near overwhelming evidence in my view as a former prosecutor that prosecution should be pursued.”
The two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes occurred in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia and led to the bestselling plane’s worldwide grounding for 20 months. A safety system called MCAS was linked to both fatal crashes.