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US Judge to hear objections about Boeing's deal to avoid prosecution for crashes

On Wednesday, a U.S. Judge will decide whether to approve an agreement between the Justice Department of the United States and Boeing. The deal allows Boeing to avoid prosecution for a charge stemming two fatal crashes involving the 737 MAX that killed 346 passengers.

Judge Reed O'Connor will hear objections in Texas from the relatives of some who died in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, in 2018 or 2019. The agreement allows Boeing to avoid oversight by an independent monitor for a period of three years.

Boeing agreed last year to plead guilty to a criminal charge of fraud that it had misled U.S. authorities about a critical flight control system in the 737 MAX jet, its most popular model, but later reversed the decision.

Boeing accepted the plea agreement during the last months of Biden's administration.

O'Connor rejected this agreement in December. She cited a clause in the contract that dealt with the selection of an impartial monitor.

This extended the case to the Trump administration. The Trump administration took over the Justice Department on January 20, and overhauled it, leading them to reach a tentative agreement of non-prosecution.

Some family members claim that dismissing the charges is not in the best interest of the public. They cite O'Connor's 2023 statement, "Boeing's crimes may be rightfully considered as the deadliest corporate crime committed in U.S. history."

Paul Cassell is an attorney for some of these relatives. He said that the "misleading, unfair deal" was clearly against the public's interest. The families will ask Judge O'Connor, using his authority, to reject this inappropriate deal.

Boeing claims that the executive branch alone has the authority to decide if a criminal case should be brought or not. Boeing has asked O'Connor not to accept objections from families, but to allow the government's motion for dismissal of the criminal charges.

Boeing, as part of its non-prosecution deal, agreed to pay $444.5 millions into a fund for crash victims, which will be distributed evenly among the victims of the two fatal crashes of the 737 MAX. This is in addition to a $243.6 million new fine.

Boeing has agreed to pay a total of $1.1 billion, which includes the fine, compensation for families, and $455 million in order to improve the company's safety, compliance and quality programs.

Justice Department: The vast majority have settled their civil lawsuits with Boeing, and collectively they have "paid several billion dollar,"

Boeing is under increased scrutiny by the Federal Aviation Administration, since January 2024 when a MAX 9 that was missing four bolts in a key location experienced a mid-air emergency and lost a door plug. Justice Department officials decided, as a result of this, to reopen an older fatal crash case and negotiate a plea deal with Boeing. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; David Shepardson)

(source: Reuters)