The Ministry of Justice has finalized the terms of the Boeing plea deal on Wednesday. Aircraft manufacturer pleaded guilty to fraud for misleading federal regulators who evaluated the 737 Max before two crashes in 2018 and 2019. Along with the $243.6 million fine, the DOJ is demanding that Boeing invest $455 million in its safety, quality, and compliance programs. However, Boeing will have veto power over the government’s choice of an independent compliance monitor to oversee… Boeing aircraft.
The Justice Department will select six candidates for the safety oversight position within the next 90 days. Boeing aircraft may object to a potential display if the manufacturer “believe in goodwill” that the candidate does not meet the requirements, based on Newsweek. It’s hard to argue that Boeing didn’t get off easy with this level of leniency, said Paul Cassell, a lawyer for the families of the crash victims. told AP:
“The complaint has all the issues that families are concerned about. We will be filing a strong objection to the preferential and lenient treatment that Boeing is receiving.”
Victim’s family asks government to tax unprecedented fine of up to $25 billion against Boeing. Ultimately, the manufacturer will only have to pay a fraction of the proposed fine. “Boeing’s crimes are the deadliest corporate crimes in American history,” Cassell said in May. The two crashes of the Boeing 737 Max that killed 346 people were blamed on the plane’s MCAS stabilization feature. Boeing misled regulators about the amount of training required for pilots to operate and be equipped with MCAS.
It should be noted that this plea agreement does not relieve Boeing from the possibility of being held liable in connection with door plug explode on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max. The January incident played a key role in determining that the plane maker violated the terms of its initial $2.5 billion settlement for the 737 Max with the Justice Department.
