Attorneys representing the families of 346 victims killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes say that the U.S. Department of Justice is planning to drop criminal charges against the aircraft manufacturer, calling the move a "prearranged conclusion" and a "slap on the wrist."
Six years after the fatal accidents that claimed the lives of all the occupants of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019, the prospect of Boeing facing no criminal accountability has been described by victims' families as a profound betrayal.
The lawyers said that they were informed Friday morning that the DOJ is considering dismissing the criminal case pending against Boeing and instead submitting a non-prosecution agreement.
The U.S. government has alleged Boeing conspired to mislead regulators who approved minimal pilot-training requirements for the 737 Max nearly a decade ago.
During a virtual meeting with Justice Department officials on Friday morning, victims' families were told that prosecutors are considering dropping the criminal case against Boeing, which stems from the 2018 and 2019 crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, according to the victims' lawyers.
Paul Cassell, attorney for some of the families in the case, said in a release:
“Today the Justice Department’s Criminal Division held a 'conferral session' but didn't truly confer at all. Instead, they conveyed their preconceived idea that Boeing should be allowed to escape any real consequences for its deadly lies,"
"We hope that this bizarre plan will be rejected by the leadership of the Department. If not—and if the Department moves to dismiss the case — we will strenuously object before Judge (Reed) O’Connor."
Two separate plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 of Boeing 737 Max models in Ethiopia and Indonesia, respectively, claimed the lives of 346 people.
Lawyers for the aerospace company and the Justice Department have spent months trying to renegotiate a July 2024 plea agreement that called for Boeing to plead guilty to a single felony charge.
The case revolves around Boeing's concealing on the scope of MAX aircraft Pilot trainings and failure to fully disclose the risks associated with the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS), a flight control feature that played a central role in both crashes.
Boeing previously agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a deal that included a $487.2 million fine and mandated three years of oversight by an independent monitor.
In December 2024, a federal judge rejected the deal that would have allowed Boeing to plead guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and pay a fine for misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people.
The Justice Department first charged Boeing in January 2021 with defrauding Federal Aviation Administration regulators who approved pilot training requirements for the 737 Max.
The department simultaneously announced it would drop the charge after three years if the company stayed out of trouble and paid a $2.5 billion settlement.
Paul Cassell, a former federal judge and a professor at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the leading voice for the families, described the meeting as "bizarre" and warned that any effort to dismiss the case would be met with formal opposition before U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor.
Cassell emphasized that Boeing has already admitted guilt and should not be shielded from prosecution.
"Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims who Boeing killed through its callous lies. We will be asking Judge O’Connor to use his recognized authority under federal law to reject any proposal like this, which would be clearly contrary to the public interest.”
Robert A. Clifford, lead counsel in a civil suit pending in federal court, pushed back on the DOJ's claim that there is no litigation risk in dropping the case.
"They can't just walk back from that," Clifford said during Friday's meeting.
"These are facts that they agreed to. You have all the facts you need to prosecute this case." He accused the DOJ of offering Boeing a "sweetheart deal" and vowed to fight it: "We are offended by this deal, and we will challenge this."
Earlier, at an October 11 hearing, Boeing lawyer Ben Hatch defended the plea deal, saying Boeing “is a pillar of the national economy and the national defense” and needed to know its punishment before agreeing to plead guilty.
The lawyer’s argument stunned relatives of the victims, who were in the courtroom.
“Boeing is too important for the economy — they’re too big to jail. That’s what he’s saying,” said Michael Stumo, whose daughter Samya died in the second crash. “It allows them to kill people with no consequences because they’re too big and because their shareholders won’t like it.”
However, DOJ officials, including Acting Chief of the Criminal Fraud Division Lorinda Laryea, indicated that no final decision has been made. Cassell and other attorneys, however, believe the outcome has already been set. "This is not a consultation," Cassell said. "This is a declaration."
In the latest development, news of the pending deal came the same week Boeing finalized a multibillion-dollar jet order with Qatar Airways during President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East.
The manufacturing giant has also come under renewed scrutiny since a door-plug panel blew off a B737 Max jetliner during an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5, 2024.
The FAA has also found multiple problems with production practices of both Boeing and its major supplier Spirit AeroSystems following a six-week audit of Boeing triggered by the January 5 door plug blowout.
The company is under multiple investigations, and the FBI has told passengers from the flight that they might be victims of a crime.
