Boeing could face criminal prosecution over 737 Max crashes as Justice Department finds aviation giant breached 2021 immunity deal

Boeing could face criminal prosecution over two fatal 737 Max crashes after they were accused of violating a settlement which allowed them to avoid earlier charges. 

The Justice Department will decide whether to pursue charges, amid increasing scrutiny over the safety of the company's planes, by July 7.   

Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department in January 2021 after two 737 Max jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. 

The settlement allowed Boeing to avoid prosecution on a single charge of fraud - misleading regulators who approved the 737 Max - but set out certain terms that Boeing had to comply with for the next three years. 

The Justice Department alleges Boeing has since breached the 2021 settlement, opening themselves up to criminal prosecution. 

Rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight of a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019, which took the lives of 157 people 

Glenn Leon, head of the Justice Department criminal division's fraud section, said in a letter filed in Texas federal court that Boeing failed to make changes to prevent it from violating federal anti-fraud laws - a condition of the the 2021 settlement.

The department claims that Boeing failed to 'design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws', according to NBC. 

Boeing could now be prosecuted 'for any federal criminal violation of which the United States has knowledge,' including the charge of fraud that the company hoped to avoid with the $2.5 billion settlement, the Justice Department said.

However, it is not clear whether the government will prosecute the manufacturing giant.

'The Government is determining how it will proceed in this matter,' the Justice Department said in the court filing. 

This picture taken at the Tanjung Priok Jakarta port on October 30, 2018 shows Indonesian people examining debris of the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT 610 in Jakarta which killed 189 

Boeing said: 'We can confirm that we received a communication today from the Justice Department, stating that the Department has made a determination that we have not met our obligations under our 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, and requesting the company's response. 

'We believe that we have honored the terms of that agreement, and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department on this issue. 

'As we do so, we will engage with the Department with the utmost transparency, as we have throughout the entire term of the agreement, including in response to their questions following the Alaska Airlines 1282 accident.'

Prosecutors said they will meet with families of the crash victims on May 31.

Paul Cassell, a lawyer who represents families of passengers who died in the Max crash in Ethiopia, called it a 'positive first step, and for the families, a long time coming.'

'But we need to see further action from DOJ to hold Boeing accountable, and plan to use our meeting on May 31 to explain in more details what we believe would be a satisfactory remedy to Boeing´s ongoing criminal conduct,' Cassell said.

Investigations into the 2018 and 2019 crashes pointed to a flight-control system that Boeing added to the Max without telling pilots or airlines. 

It will be the fourth meeting between the DOJ and the families, some of whom are seen here in 2019, of those who died in the two 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019 

Boeing downplayed the significance of the system, then didn´t overhaul it until after the second crash.

The Justice Department investigated Boeing and settled the case in January 2021. 

After secret negotiations, the government agreed not to prosecute Boeing on a charge of defrauding the United States by deceiving regulators who approved the plane.

In exchange, the company paid $2.5 billion - a $243.6 million fine, a $500 million fund for victim compensation, and nearly $1.8 billion to airlines whose Max jets were grounded.

Boeing has faced civil lawsuits, congressional investigations and massive damage to its business since the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Relatives filed a motion arguing that the US government 'lied and violated their rights through a secret process' by allowing Boeing to escape criminal charges.

Family members hold photographs of Boeing 737 MAX crash victims as they wait for Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg to testify before a Senate hearing in Washington, October 29, 2019

Mark Lindquist, an attorney representing a number of victims' families, told ABC: 'From a prosecutorial point of view, I believe they likely have enough evidence to prove Boeing violated the DPA.

'In plain language, the main point of a deferred prosecution agreement is this: Don't screw up again.

'Boeing screwed up again. The door plug blowout on the Max 9 is just one example.'

Robert Clifford, a lawyer representing families, also told the outlet: 'The DOJ has been very nontransparent in disclosing to the families how they are going about making the determination of compliance or breach.   

'That has been a very disappointing feature of the department's contact and communication with the families. 

But, in fairness to the department, prosecutors seldom discuss the details of their investigations, so this is not out of the ordinary.'

As part of the deferred prosecution deal, Boeing test pilot Mark Forkner was the only person to be criminally charged in the two 737 MAX crashes.

Nadia Milleron, whose daughter Samya Stuno died in the Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019, speaks during a memorial protest in front of Boeing offices in Arlington, Virginia, on March 10, 2023

In March 2022, a jury in Texas found him not guilty of deceiving federal regulators evaluating the company's 737 MAX jet.

Prosecutors accused Forkner of misleading Federal Aviation Administration regulators about the amount of training pilots would need to fly the Max. 

The FAA required only brief computer-based training for pilots instead of more extensive practice in simulators that could have cost Boeing up to $1million per plane.

Defense lawyers said Boeing engineers did not tell Forkner about changes to the flight software, known by its acronym, MCAS.

In the two crashes - in Indonesia in 2018 and in Ethiopia in 2019 - MCAS automatically pointed the nose of the plane down based on faulty sensor readings, and pilots were unable to regain control. 

On October 29, 2018, the Boeing 737 MAX operating the Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew. 

Five months later, on March 10, 2019, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft which operated Ethiopian flight 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, Ethiopia, six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people aboard. 

CEO David Calhoun, who will step down at the end of the year, has said many times that Boeing is taking steps to improve its manufacturing quality and safety culture

The company has been pushed into crisis mode since a door-plug panel blew off a 737 Max jetliners during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, seen here

Boeing's share prices have tumbled by almost 10 percent to $173.86 over the past six months as more safety concerns have come to light. 

The company has been pushed into crisis mode since a door-plug panel blew off a 737 Max jetliners during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. 

Investigators are focusing on four bolts that were removed and apparently not replaced during a repair job in Boeing´s factory.

The company faces a criminal investigation by the Justice Department and separate investigations by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

CEO David Calhoun, who will step down at the end of the year, has said many times that Boeing is taking steps to improve its manufacturing quality and safety culture. 

He called the blowout on the Alaska jet a 'watershed moment' from which a better Boeing will emerge. There is plenty of skepticism about comments like that