Boeing agrees to guilty plea and $250 million penalty in conspiracy case

Boeing reached an agreement with the Justice Department in which it will plead guilty to conspiracy and pay nearly $250 million in penalties.

The proposed agreement marks the end of a lengthy investigation into the 2018 and 2019 crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max jetliners in Indonesia and Ethiopia , which claimed the lives of 346 people.

Federal investigators concluded that these tragedies were caused by software errors.

Last month, the DOJ informed family members of the victims that it would most likely not pursue criminal charges , given that a guilty conviction seemed unlikely.

The company faced allegations of providing misleading information to the Federal Aviation Administration concerning the safety of the software installed in its aircraft.

Under the agreement, Boeing would admit it gave the FAA “incomplete and inaccurate information” about the MAX aircraft software, undermining safety .

However, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor must first approve this plea.

Boeing would also agree to a three-year organizational probation and invest $455 million in compliance programs.

As part of the deal, an independent compliance officer would oversee the process.

Additionally, Boeing’s board members would meet with the families of crash victims.

An attorney representing some of the victims’ families criticized the deal as inadequate.

“The proposed plea has all the problems in it that the families feared it would have,” Paul Cassell said in a statement.

“We will file a strong objection to the preferential and ‘sweetheart’ treatment Boeing is receiving within seven days with Judge O’Connor. We will strongly urge him to reject this proposed plea,” he added.

In 2021, Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the DOJ to address these safety concerns and avoid prosecution.

However, the department said Boeing violated this agreement after a January incident in which a door blew out of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 shortly after takeoff in Portland , Oregon .

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“Boeing and the Justice Department have filed a detailed plea agreement in federal court, which is subject to court approval,” the company told the Hill.

“We will continue to work transparently with our regulators as we take significant actions across Boeing to further strengthen our safety, quality and compliance programs,” it added.