Boeing is set to face a felony charge in court for its role in the crashes of two 737-MAX jets in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people.
The ruling, made by a federal judge in Texas, comes after relatives of some of the victims said the government had violated their rights by reaching a settlement with Boeing without first notifying the families. The hearing, which is set to take place on January 26, will now allow these family members to speak.
This ruling threatens to untangle an agreement that the aviation giant had negotiated with the US Department of Justice to avoid prosecution.
Under the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, Boeing had agreed to pay a total criminal monetary amount of over $2.5 billion, composed of a criminal monetary penalty of $243.6 million, compensation payments to airline customers of $1.77 billion, and the establishment of a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund.
The judge’s ruling came after relatives of some of the victims argued that the government had violated their rights by reaching a settlement with Boeing without first notifying the families.
The judge ordered Boeing to send a representative to his courtroom in Fort Worth on January 26 to hear the felony charge. It remains unclear what criminal charges the aircraft manufacturer could be charged with.
The crashes of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610 were caused by a flawed design in the 737-MAX’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) which led to the aircraft’s nose being pushed down.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG) was not provided with accurate information about the MCAS by Boeing and as a result, airplane manuals and pilot-training materials lacked information about the system.
The tragic events of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610 have had a profound impact on the families of the victims, as well as the wider aviation industry. The criminal charge against Boeing is a significant development that holds the company accountable for its actions and aims to ensure that such tragic events are not repeated in the future.