Boeing Asked to Plead Guilty in Lion Air 737 MAX Tragedy or Face Trial

JAKARTA – Boeing forced to plead guilty to fraud charges related to two fatal crashes involving 737 Max aircraft more than half a decade ago. The US Justice Department, according to sources familiar with the matter, is urging Boeing to admit its mistakes to avoid criminal penalties.

The U.S. planemaker will decide whether to accept the plea deal by the end of the week, Bloomberg reported, citing conversations between DOJ officials and victims’ relatives and lawyers.

For information two accidents Boeing 737 Max 8 occurred separately, one involving Lion Air and the other Ethiopian Airlines. The two fatal crashes occurred less than five months apart between 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.

Under the plea agreement, the planemaker will reportedly be fined $243.6 million, on top of the $243.6 million it paid as part of a deferred prosecution agreement in 2021. The agreement will also require an independent monitor to audit Boeing’s safety and compliance practices for three years.

Paul Cassell, an attorney representing the crash victims’ families, called the Justice Department’s proposed offer to Boeing an “apology deal.”

“This agreement does not acknowledge, in any way, that Boeing’s crimes killed 346 people,” he said in an email. “The families will strongly reject this plea deal.”

In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion as part of a settlement with the DOJ after the company admitted to deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about flight system errors related to the crashes.

In both crashes, faulty sensor readings caused the 737 Max 8 jets to nosedive. If Boeing complies with the deal, the charges will be dropped after a three-year period, which ends in July of this year.

The aircraft manufacturer is currently undergoing a leadership shake-up as it searches for a new chief executive to replace Dave Calhoun, who will step down later this year.

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