Criminal case dismissed for Boeing 737 Max accidents in exchange for $1.1 billion
Aircraft manufacturer to pay $1.1 billion in exchange for dismissal of charges for the two deadly plane crashes in 2018 and 2019
A US judge on Thursday ordered the dismissal of criminal charges against Boeing for the deadly crashes of its 737 MAX 8 aircraft in 2018 and 2019, as part of of an agreement between the company and the prosecution.
The Texas judge's decision stems from an agreement reached between the Department of Justice and the American aircraft manufacturer, announced on May 23, to end the case of two accidents that caused a total of 346 fatalities.
According to a federal document, Boeing will pay $1.1 billion in exchange for the dismissal of criminal charges related to its conduct in the certification of the 737 MAX aircraft.
Of the total sum, $444.5 million will go into a compensation fund for the victims' families, which had already been funded under a deferred prosecution agreement reached in 2021.
The agreement cancels the criminal trial that was scheduled for June in Fort Worth, Texas, and resolves the case without requiring Boeing to plead guilty to fraud in the certification of its MAX model.
The failed flights of Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air
Boeing has expressed its sincerest apologies for the Ethiopian Airlines flight crash, which killed 157 people, and the Lion Air flight in Indonesia, which killed 189.
The company attributes the accidents to the design of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a flight control system that was found to be faulty.
Thursday's announcement is the latest development in a case that began after the two crashes damaged Boeing's reputation and contributed to changes in the leadership of the aviation giant.
Dozens of civil lawsuits have also been filed against the company in the United States, which are being handled by two different federal judges in Chicago, Illinois.The first civil trial regarding the Ethiopian Airlines flight crash began this week, and Boeing reached a settlement with the plaintiff. Since the 737 Max crashes, which forced the grounding of its flagship aircraft for years for investigations, Boeing has faced a crisis, exacerbated in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the drop in travel demand worldwide.