US prosecutors have recommended that the Department of Justice (DoJ) bring criminal charges against Boeing. This follows claims by the DoJ that Boeing violated a settlement related to two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft, which resulted in 346 deaths.
Boeing declined to comment when contacted by the BBC, but previously it has denied violating the deferred prosecution agreement. The DoJ has until July 7 to decide whether to prosecute the company and has not commented on the matter.
The recommendation is not a final decision, and the specifics of any potential criminal actions remain unknown, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner. “This is a really critical decision that is coming up,” said Ed Pierson, executive director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety and a former senior manager at Boeing. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Pierson highlighted ongoing issues with the 737 Max, 787, and other models, attributing them to leadership failures.
The crashes of the 737 Max aircraft occurred within six months of each other. The first crash involved Indonesia’s Lion Air in October 2018, followed by an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019.
Recently, victims’ relatives urged prosecutors to impose a $25 billion fine on Boeing and pursue criminal charges. In 2021, Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement, with prosecutors committing to drop a criminal charge after three years if the company met the deferred prosecution agreement’s conditions. However, the DoJ stated last month that Boeing breached the deal by failing to implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program to prevent fraud violations.
Outgoing Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun faced tough questioning from US senators last week. Despite Calhoun’s claims that the company had learned from past mistakes and improved its whistleblower process, lawmakers accused him of insufficiently addressing a culture of retaliation.
As part of an ongoing investigation, Boeing whistleblowers testified before the Senate in April, alleging serious production issues with the 737 Max, 787 Dreamliner, and 777 models. In a recent incident, a door panel fell off a new 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, creating a gaping hole.
Calhoun, who is stepping down as CEO at the end of 2024 with a $33 million pay package, will remain on Boeing’s board. He succeeded Dennis Muilenburg, who was fired after the two crashes. Pierson criticized the leadership changes as superficial, noting that Calhoun had been with Boeing for a decade before becoming CEO in 2019. “They are making those decisions that are affecting millions and millions of people for many, many years,” he said.
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