After the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes killed 346 victims, prosecutors charged Boeing with defrauding safety officials by bypassing proper federal oversight of its plane's design.
Boeing paid 2.5 billion dollars to delay prosecution for three years, after which the charges would typically be dropped — but the Justice Department claimed in a court filing Tuesday that the company violated the terms of the settlement.
In a letter to the federal judge presiding over the case, the Justice Department said Boeing failed “to design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of US fraud laws throughout the operation her”. The letter added, “For not fully fulfilling the terms and obligations arising from the [deferred prosecution agreement]Boeing is subject to prosecution by the United States for any federal criminal violation of which the United States is aware.”
The Justice Department notes that it may specifically prosecute Boeing for the criminal charge that was the subject of the settlement agreement – conspiracy to defraud the United States. As part of the deferred prosecution agreement, Boeing “knowingly waives[d] any right he may have in a prosecution for that charge.”
A series of troubling incidents involving Boeing's 737 Max models has shaken public faith in the company's aircraft. Whistleblowers testified in April that Boeing had prioritized profits over safety — days later, CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement to employees that the company had taken “significant steps to strengthen quality and safety” and that “a Boeing airplane takes off or lands safely almost every second of every day.”
In January, just six minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, a 737 Max 9 plane lost its door plug and the door suddenly burst from the airframe. All passengers and crew survived, while several minor injuries were reported. Passengers filed a class-action suit against Boeing, alleging emotional distress.
Boeing's settlement agreement is related to the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines tragedies that happened years ago. In October 2018, Lion Air Flight JT 610 crashed into the Java Sea just 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta, bound for another Indonesian island, killing all 189 on board. The plane, a 737 Max 8, was in the first accident involving a 737 Max and the deadliest 737 accident since the line went live in 1967.
A few months later, another Max 8 crashed into a field six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, en route to Nairobi, Kenya in March 2019. All 157 people on board were killed.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/boeing-settlement-violation-justice-department-1235020974/
