The US Justice Department (DOJ) struck a deal with Boeing that would allow the planemaker to avoid criminal prosecution in a fraud case related to two 737 Max jetliner crashes that killed 346 people over five years ago.

Under the tentative deal, the aerospace giant would pay more than $1.1 billion (€967.5 million), and an additional $445 million (€391 million) to the crash victims’ families.

In return, the DOJ agreed to dismiss a fraud case against Boeing, allowing the planemaker to avoid a criminal conviction that could jeopardise its status as a federal contractor.

“We are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement.

“Nothing will diminish the victims’ losses, but this resolution holds Boeing financially accountable, provides finality and compensation for the families and makes an impact for the safety of future air travelers,” they added.

However, the verdict comes as a blow to some of the victims’ families, who believe the monetary fine could send a wrong signal to companies on accountability regarding the safety of their products.

Some relatives of passengers in the crashes have been pushing for a public trial, the prosecution of former company officials, and a more severe financial punishment for Boeing.

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in US history,” said Paul Cassell, an attorney on the case, adding that the families he repesents will object and try to convince the court to reject the deal.

Two new 737 Max jets crashed in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia, killing 346 people after a faulty sensor reading forced the plane into an uncontrollable nosedive.

Workers recover debris at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Max plane crash on March 11, 2019, outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene, File

Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about aspects of the Max before the agency certified the plane for flight.

The planemaker did not tell airlines and pilots about the 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 DOJ had already charged Boeing in 2021 with deceiving FAA regulators about the software, and about how much training pilots needed to fly the plane safely. At the time, the aerospace giant was let off the hook after they agreed to pay a $2.5 billion (€2.2 billion) settlement and took steps to comply with anti-fraud laws for three years.

After federal prosecutors found Boeing did not comply with the agreement and failed to make the promised changes, the plane manufacturer agreed to plead guilty to the criminal fraud charge to avoid a potentially lengthy public trial.

But in December, a federal judge rejected the plea deal citing concerns with diversity, inclusion and equity requirements when picking a monitor to oversee Boeing’s compliance.

The deal still needs to be finalized, but Boeing would pay out $1.1 billion, including $445 million to a fund for the crash victims’ families, the Justice Department said in court documents.

In exchange, federal prosecutors will dismiss a fraud charge against the aircraft manufacturer.

DC PLANE CRASH: VICTIM’S FAMILY SEEKS $250 MILLION IN FIRST LEGAL ACTION SINCE DEADLY COLLISION

“Boeing must continue to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program and retain an independent compliance consultant,” the department said Friday. “We are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits.”

Last year, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after two fatal 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019. The company previously agreed to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million and face three years of independent oversight.

The deal announced Friday did not go over well with relatives of those killed in the crashes.

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history. My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it,” said the families’ pro bono lawyer, Paul Cassell, professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.

DC PLANE CRASH: AIRPORT EMPLOYEES ARRESTED OVER LEAKED VIDEO OF MIDAIR COLLISION

“With this filing, the DOJ walks away from any pretense to seek justice for the victims of the 737 Max crashes,” said Javier de Luis, an aerospace engineer from Massachusetts whose sister was killed in the second crash. “In spite of the mountains of reports and investigations over the last six years documenting wrongdoing by Boeing, DOJ is claiming that they cannot prove that anybody did anything wrong. The message sent by this action to companies around the country is, ‘Don’t worry about making your products safe for your customers.’

“‘Even if you kill them, just pay a small fine and move on,'” he added. “Boeing has repeatedly shown itself incapable of changing their ways on their own. The Alaska Air door blowout five years after the fatal Max crashes proves this. This agreement does not provide for a robust, externally supervised safety monitoring program.”

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Boeing has faced increased scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) since January 2024, when a new Max 9 missing four key bolts had a mid-air emergency, losing a door plug, Reuters reported. The FAA has capped production at 38 planes per month.

Last year, the DOJ found Boeing had violated a 2021 agreement that shielded the plane-maker from prosecution.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Justice Department.

Boeing has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution in the case over two deadly 737 Max crashes.

Boeing has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution in the case over two deadly 737 Max crashes.

Boeing has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution in the case over two deadly 737 Max crashes.

Boeing has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution in the case over two deadly 737 Max crashes.

Boeing has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution in the case over two deadly 737 Max crashes, also allowing Boeing to avoid going to trial next month, according to a new court filing.

The agreement still has to go through the judge in the Northern District of Texas, who rejected a previous version of the deal due to a

diversity, equity and inclusion provision.

The terms of the agreement include that Boeing “will admit to conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group,” according to a DOJ status report filed on Friday.

They also include that Boeing pay and invest over $1.1 billion — including $444.5 million to crash victims’ families, $455 million to strengthen Boeing’s compliance, safety and quality programs, and an additional $243.6 million fine, according to the filing.

The DOJ said it will file the motion to dismiss and the written agreement by the end of next week.

“It is the Government’s judgment that the Agreement is a fair and just resolution that serves the public interest,” the DOJ said in the filing. “The Agreement guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial.”

Lawyers representing the families of the crash victims said they hope to convince the judge to reject the agreement.

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,” Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing some of the families, said in a statement. “My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it.”

The two 737 Max crashes killed 346 people in total.

The first crash, on Oct. 29, 2018, in Jakarta, Indonesia, killed all 189 passengers and crew. Black box data from the Lion Air jet revealed the pilots struggled to fight the plane’s malfunctioning safety system from takeoff to the moment it nose-dived into the water.

The second crash, on March 10, 2019, happened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when a Boeing aircraft crashed minutes after takeoff and killed 157 people onboard.

The initial plea agreement over the crashes was rejected by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in December 2024, who cited the government’s DEI policies as a factor in the selection of an independent compliance monitor for Boeing. Under that deal, the aircraft manufacturing giant had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay a fine of at least $243 million.

According to a filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the Justice Department and Boeing have reached an agreement “in principle” and are “proceeding expeditiously” to memorialize it in writing. Once that takes place, the government will file a motion to dismiss the case.

The agreement is a “fair and just resolution that serves the public,” the department wrote, “and guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial.”

The Justice Department said it met last week with family members of those killed in the two crashes and gave them an opportunity to weigh in on the non-prosecution agreement (NPA), which was then in provisional form. Family members and legal counsel for 110 of the victims supported the deal, the department said, with many expressing a desire for the proceedings to conclude as quickly as possible.

Still, government attorneys acknowledged that many family members continue to advocate for a trial and are “opposed to any pre-trial resolution.”

Settlement in the Works

As part of the deal, Boeing would admit to engaging in a conspiracy to obstruct a lawful FAA investigation and pay a total of $1.1 billion. Of that amount, $482 million would be a criminal penalty and $444.5 million would go to a beneficiary fund for the crash victims, which Boeing has already paid $500 million into as part of an earlier agreement. The company must also agree to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into its quality, compliance, and safety programs.

FAA oversight of Boeing’s facilities, implemented last year after a 737 Max door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight, would continue, as would the company’s cooperation with an independent compliance consultant.

Boeing’s board of directors would also have to meet with the family members of the crash victims to hear their concerns about the company’s conduct.

A Boeing 737 MAX 10 [Credit: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson]

The Joe Biden administration filed charges against Boeing in 2021, alleging the company deceived FAA investigators about details of a flight stabilization feature on the 737 Max, known as the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS). The system played a role in both crashes.

The prospect of a NPA on the fraud charge has drawn criticism over the last month, including from Democrats who claim the Donald Trump administration is quietly settling cases against powerful corporations that it could and should pursue.

On Friday, Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter urging the Justice Department not to cut a deal with Boeing.

“DOJ must not sign a non-prosecution agreement with Boeing that would allow the company to weasel its way out of accountability for its failed corporate culture, and for any illegal behavior that has resulted in deadly consequences,” they wrote.

The suggestion of a deal has also been criticized by lawyers representing some of the victims’ families.

toggle caption Shelby Tauber/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice told a federal judge on Friday that it had reached an agreement in principle with Boeing to drop a criminal case over two fatal crashes of 737 MAX jets, despite objections from family members of some crash victims.

It’s the latest turn in a long-running legal saga following the fatal crashes of two 737 MAX jets, in 2018 and 2019, that killed 346 people.

The Justice Department reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing in 2021, during the first Trump administration. But prosecutors changed course under President Biden, reviving the criminal case against the aerospace giant. Boeing agreed last year to plead guilty to defrauding regulators, but a federal judge rejected that proposed plea deal .

Sponsor Message

Now the Justice Department has reached another agreement that would allow Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution.

In a court filing, DOJ lawyers called the agreement “a fair and just resolution that serves the public.” The deal “guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial,” they wrote.

The DOJ said it laid out the terms of the latest deal in a meeting with family members of the victims and their lawyers last week. Some of those family members supported the deal, according to the department’s filing.

But lawyers for other family members say they’re outraged by the agreement.

“With this filing, the DOJ walks away from any pretense to seek justice for the victims of the 737 MAX crashes,” said Javier de Luis, an aerospace engineer and lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who lost his sister in the second MAX crash.

“In spite of the mountains of reports and investigations over the last six years documenting wrongdoing by Boeing, DOJ is claiming that they cannot prove that anybody did anything wrong. The message sent by this action to companies around the country is, don’t worry about making your products safe for your customers,” de Luis said in a statement.

Sponsor Message

Under this deal, Boeing will pay or invest more than $1.1 billion, according to the DOJ, including $444.5 million for a crash victims’ fund and more than $240 million as an additional criminal fine.

Boeing would also admit to “conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation” of regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the DOJ filing. And the company would retain an independent compliance consultant that would report its findings to the government.

“The Department has met extensively with the crash victims’ families. While they are all experiencing grief, they hold a broad set of views regarding the resolution, ranging from support to disagreement,” a Justice Department spokesman said in a statement. “Nothing will diminish the victims’ losses, but this resolution holds Boeing financially accountable, provides finality and compensation for the families and makes an impact for the safety of future air travelers.”

Boeing declined to comment.

Under the plea agreement announced last year, Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to defraud regulators about the safety of its planes. But federal Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas objected to the framework that Boeing and the Justice Department crafted to select an independent monitor, insisting the court should play a bigger role in selecting that monitor.

A lawyer for the families said they would urge Judge O’Connor to reject this agreement, as well.

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,” said Paul Cassell, a law professor at the University of Utah and former federal judge who is representing the families of the victims for free. “My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it.”