A US federal judge on Tuesday set a trial date of June 23 in the Justice Department’s criminal case against Boeing over two deadly 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. Judge Reed O’Connor, in two court filings in Texas, vacated an April 11 deadline for Boeing and prosecutors to announce progress on a plea deal, opting instead to move forward with the trial. The crashes killed 346 people in total.
Boeing’s Response
Boeing said in a statement that it was still engaged in “good faith discussions” with the Justice Department regarding an “appropriate” resolution of the matter. The company had previously agreed last July to plead guilty to fraud after the Justice Department found it had failed to improve its compliance and ethics program, breaching a deferred prosecution agreement following the crashes. The Justice Department declined to comment on the case.
Victim Family Reactions
“I am so happy that Judge O’Connor of Texas has put an end to the delaying tactics of Boeing and the Department of Justice,” said Catherine Berthet, whose daughter Camille died in one of the crashes. “Finally, there is going to be a trial,” she told AFP. Berthet added, “For years we have been fighting, and I am fighting, on behalf of the victims and my daughter Camille, for truth and justice. A trial is necessary to bring this truth to light.”
Previous Legal Developments
Boeing’s plea deal struck last year included spending $455 million to improve safety and compliance practices over three years of court-supervised probation as well as supervision by an independent monitor. However, in December, Judge O’Connor rejected the 2024 settlement over apparent flaws in the selection process for a monitor to ensure Boeing’s compliance. Relatives of victims have called the plea agreement a “sweetheart deal” that failed to adequately hold Boeing accountable.
Legal Implications
If convicted, Boeing would be branded a felon for conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration about problematic software affecting the flight control systems in the crashed planes. Erin Applebaum, a lawyer representing 34 families of those killed in the 2019 MAX Ethiopian Airlines crash, urged the Justice Department “to stand on the right side of history, reject any further plea negotiations, and move forward with a full prosecution.”