In a significant legal development, Boeing has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to plead guilty to a felony charge, allowing the company to avoid a criminal trial related to two deadly 737 MAX crashes. The aerospace manufacturer will admit to fraud for misleading the Federal Aviation Administration during evaluations of the aircraft's maneuvering system, which contributed to the 2018 and 2019 crashes, resulting in over 340 fatalities.
The agreement mandates that Boeing pay a $244 million fine, allow the courts to determine restitution for the victims' families, and accept probation with specific conditions. These conditions include meeting with crash victims' families, committing at least $455 million towards compliance and safety programs, and being overseen by an independent monitor for three years.
This plea deal follows the DOJ's determination in May that Boeing had violated a deferred prosecution agreement from January 2021 by failing to implement necessary fraud prevention measures. This breach opened the company up to prosecution.
Boeing confirmed the agreement but declined to comment further, pending final court approval, expected by July 19. The company has been under intense scrutiny, especially after a midair panel blowout in January led to a temporary grounding of a 737 MAX variant and a subsequent manufacturing slowdown.
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