Boeing and U.S. prosecutors said they are working toward a new agreement to resolve a criminal case stemming from two fatal 737 Max crashes. after a federal judge blocked an earlier plan because it included race as a consideration in selecting a compliance monitor.
The Justice Department is working with Boeing to negotiate a new proposed plea agreement“to include revisions to the proposed plea agreement that address the reasons why the Court rejected it,” Attorneys for the agency’s fraud section and the company told the judge in a presentation Friday.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor rejected an earlier plan because it called for an independent monitor to be selected in accordance with the department’s diversity and inclusion criteria. He also said the plan would reduce his role in ensuring Boeing’s compliance with the agreement.
“The parties have not reached an agreement and do not expect to do so before January 4, but continue to work in good faith to achieve that end,” the Justice Department wrote in a separate letter to the families of the crash victims that was reviewed by Bloomberg News. The Justice Department and Boeing declined to comment on the letter sent to the families.
The Justice Department met with some relatives of the 346 people who died in the crashes after the judge’s ruling in December, according to the letter. Relatives have said they have urged the government to seek a more aggressive settlement to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths, or to consider taking the case to trial. In its letter, the department emphasized that there is no guarantee that a revised agreement will be reached.
Family members of crash victims have fought for years for tougher sentences following the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019. Both fatal accidents were related to a faulty flight control system.
In 2021, Boeing reached a deal with the Justice Department to defer prosecution over charges that it misled regulators about the system.. In May, the government said the company violated that agreement and recommended criminal charges, citing Boeing’s failure to live up to its promises. Boeing and the department finalized the first proposed plea deal based on those charges in July.
The department asked the judge for permission to provide an update on the status of the latest negotiations in mid-February, noting that the parties may need more time to resolve the deal due to expected changes in federal leadership under the incoming Trump administration.
