Newspulse

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday that it has made “substantial progress” toward finalizing a plea agreement with Boeing. However, the details are not expected to be filed before July 24.

On July 7, Boeing agreed in principle to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay a fine of $243.6 million. This agreement follows the Justice Department’s May declaration that Boeing had breached a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.

The DOJ plans to file a factual statement supporting its breach determination along with the plea deal, which it initially expected to file by Friday. The department stated it “will continue to work expeditiously in an effort to file” by July 24. Boeing declined to comment on Thursday.

Boeing intends to plead guilty to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by making false representations about key software for the 737 MAX, linked to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas has set a fast schedule to consider objections to the plea deal from relatives of those killed in the MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

As part of the agreement, Boeing will spend at least $455 million over the next three years to enhance safety and compliance programs. Boeing’s board will also meet with relatives of the crash victims. Additionally, the deal imposes an independent monitor to oversee the company’s compliance, with annual progress reports publicly filed. Boeing will be on probation during the monitor’s three-year term.

The MAX crashes resulted in a 20-month grounding of Boeing’s best-selling plane and cost the company over $20 billion. In 2023, Judge O’Connor criticized Boeing, stating, “Boeing’s crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history.”

Boeing faces a separate ongoing criminal probe into a January 2021 incident involving an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 jet, which did not result in serious injuries, as well as a two-day National Transportation Safety Board hearing next month.