Boeing reaches deal to avoid criminal responsibility over 737 Max crashes

Boeing reached a deal with the Justice Department on Friday that would spare the company from taking criminal responsibility for a pair of deadly 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Under the deal, which was staunchly opposed by many families of the victims of the fatal crashes, Boeing would admit to obstructing federal oversight, pay a fine, contribute to a fund for the families and invest in safety and quality programs.

The deal is the latest twist in a yearslong legal saga over the crashes, dating back to the final days of the first Trump administration. It reverses a different deal reached last summer, in which Boeing had agreed with the Justice Department under President Joe Biden to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration.

The judge overseeing the case had asked the parties to revise the deal in December, criticising the process the agreement had laid out for the selection of an independent monitor who would make sure that Boeing was abiding by the deal. Boeing’s admission in the new agreement that it obstructed the FAA would not constitute a guilty plea.

Boeing declined to comment on the new agreement, which would still need approval of the judge overseeing the case.

“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 Friday. “My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it.”

Under the deal, Boeing would be required to invest about $455 million in quality and safety programs, and pay about $445 million into a compensation fund for beneficiaries of the 346 people who died in the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in late 2018 and early 2019. The company would also be fined $487 million, half of which it would receive credit for after an earlier fine payment. The fine and investments were part of the deal reached last summer, while the compensation fund payments were not.