Skift Take
The Justice Department has determined that Boeing violated the terms of its deferred prosecution agreement related to the Max 8 fatal crashes. It’s unclear whether the DOJ will now pursue a criminal prosecution into the plane maker.
Key Points
- Boeing allegedly breached its 2021 deferred prosecution agreement over the Max 8 crashes by not implementing a compliance program.
- The DOJ is determining its next steps and has given Boeing 30 days to respond, while Boeing claims it has met the agreement's terms.
- Increased federal scrutiny follows a recent Alaska Airlines incident, with ongoing investigations and calls for Boeing's CEO to testify.
Summary
Federal prosecutors have accused Boeing of breaching its 2021 deferred prosecution agreement related to the Max 8 aircraft, which was involved in two fatal crashes. The DOJ found that Boeing failed to implement a compliance program to prevent fraud and is deciding on further actions. Boeing, which has 30 days to respond, maintains it has honored the agreement. The company faces increased scrutiny following a recent Alaska Airlines incident, with ongoing investigations and calls for its CEO to testify in Congress.
Federal prosecutors have found that Boeing violated the terms of its 2021 deferred prosecution agreement related to the Max 8, the aircraft that was linked to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
“Boeing is subject to prosecution by the United States for any federal criminal violation,” federal prosecutors wrote in a letter to Northern Texas District Judge Reed O’Connor on Tuesday.
However, the Justice Department wrote in the letter that it is still “determining how it will proceed in the matter.”
The letter said Boeing breached the obligations of the agreement by “failing to design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations.”
Boeing confirmed that it received the DOJ letter and said it believes it has “honored the terms of the agreement. The plane maker has 30 days to respond to the DOJ’s letter.
In January 2021, Boeing reached an agreement with the DOJ to pay $2.5 billion to avoid criminal prosecution. The DOJ investigation at the time found that Boeing concealed certain information related to the Max 8.
The DOJ said Boeing admitted in court that its technical pilots had “deceived” the Federal Aviation Administration about flight control software in the Max 8, which ultimately led to the fatal Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes.
The DOJ also recently opened a probe into Boeing after the Alaska Airlines incident, where a door plug suddenly blew off a Max 9. It’s unclear whether that incident could have violated Boeing’s deferred prosecution agreement, since it occurred just days before the agreement expired in January.
Boeing has also been under increasing federal scrutiny ever since the Alaska incident. The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the matter, and senators have called for the plane maker’s CEO to testify in Congress.
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Tags: alaska airlines, as 1282, boeing, department of justice, ethiopian airlines, lion air
Photo credit: Boeing 737 Max jets are parked behind a stop sign indicating a traffic crossing at a Boeing Co. production facility in Renton, Wash.