Boeing has been officially cleared of criminal charges over the deadly crashes that killed 346 people.
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A US judge on Thursday approved the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the criminal case against Boeing stemming from two deadly 737 Max plane crashes that killed 346 people, including 18 Canadians.
However, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, said he disagreed with the Justice Department that dismissing the case was in the public interest, but said he did not have the authority to reject the decision. He said the government’s deal with Boeing “fails to ensure the accountability needed to ensure the safety of the flying public.”
Boeing did not immediately comment.
In September, O’Connor held a three-hour hearing to consider objections to the deal, questioning the government’s decision to remove the requirement that Boeing face oversight by an independent monitor for three years and instead hire a compliance consultant.
He heard anguished objections to the non-prosecution agreement from relatives of some of those killed in crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019.
Ahead of that hearing, Toronto native Chris Moore called the non-prosecution a “ridiculous plea deal” in a statement. In January 2019, a Max 8 plane bound for Nairobi crashed shortly after takeoff from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, killing Moore’s adult daughter Danielle, one of 18 Canadian citizens and 149 passengers on board.
Moore said the deal “saved the rich and powerful at the expense of the people’s lives, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”
None of the 181 passengers killed in a crash on a domestic flight inside Indonesia in October 2018 were Canadians. A total of sixteen crew members also died in the Indonesia and Ethiopia disasters.
Judge criticizes deal
O’Connor said Thursday that the government’s position is that “Boeing committed sufficient crimes to justify prosecution, failed to correct its fraudulent behavior during the (deferred prosecution agreement), which justified a guilty plea and the hiring of an independent monitor, but now Boeing will remedy that dangerous culture by retaining a consultant of its choice.”
The government argued that Boeing had improved and the Federal Aviation Administration was providing better oversight.
The National looks at Boeing’s complicated safety history, what’s changed five years after the Max-8 crash and the impact of the Alaska Airlines mid-air explosion earlier this year.
Boeing and the government argued that O’Connor had no choice but to dismiss the case.
O’Connor said in 2023 that “Boeing’s crime could be considered the deadliest corporate crime in American history,” and at one point last year it appeared the company might face charges.
Under the non-prosecution agreement, Boeing agreed to pay an additional $444.5 US million to the Accident Victims Fund, which will be divided equally per victim of the two fatal 737 MAX crashes, as well as pay a new fine of $243.6 million and more than $455 million to strengthen the company’s compliance, safety and quality programs.
Boeing has negotiated pre-trial settlements in most of the dozens of wrongful death lawsuits filed after the Ethiopian crash, including one by Canadian Paul Njoroge. The Toronto resident lost his wife, three children and mother-in-law in the accident.
Details of the settlements were confidential and were not disclosed.
Lawyers say fewer than a dozen of the lawsuits remain unresolved, although one trial began this week.
An eight-member jury in Chicago will assess damages related to the death of passenger Shikha Garg, a United Nations adviser. Unless an agreement is reached first, the panel will decide compensation for matters such as burial expenses, loss of income and grief suffered by immediate family members.
