Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to one criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay up to $487 million in fines. The plea agreement, entered July 6, avoids a criminal trial over its role in two 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 that killed everyone on board, 346 people in all.
The crashes were caused by a design flaw in the autopilot system that caused the planes to nosedive based on a faulty sensor reading.
In 2021 the U.S. Department of Justice charged Boeing with concealing information from FAA regulators about the software, which didn’t exist in older model 737s. Because of that concealment, nothing about the software was included in airplane manuals or pilot training materials. But the government also agreed to defer prosecution — after Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including a $243.6 million fine, a $500 million fund for victim compensation, and $1.77 billion to airlines whose 737 Max jets were grounded for nearly two years.
As part of that deal, Boeing also promised to implement a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect future violations of U.S. fraud laws in the company’s operations. But this May, the government said Boeing failed to follow through with that, and threatened to move forward with prosecution.
In order to avoid trial, Boeing is now pleading guilty. Under the terms of the new plea deal:
Boeing admits that its employees withheld information about the design flaw from the FAA when the 737 Max was seeking certification.
Boeing will operate under the oversight of an independent monitor chosen by the government for three years.
Boeing commits to spend $455 million on compliance and safety programs over the next three years, a 75% increase over what it has been spending.
Boeing agreed that its board of directors will meet with crash victims’ family members.
The plea agreement must be approved by a federal judge to take effect, and lawyers for some of the families of those who died in the crashes said they will ask the judge to reject the agreement and seek a public trial.
