The Department of Justice has informed a federal court in Texas that Boeing has violated a non-prosecution agreement related to two fatal crashes of 737 Max airplanes in 2018 and 2019. According to a recently filed letter, federal prosecutors reached a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Boeing in January 2021, which allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for adhering to new safety obligations.
In the letter, the DOJ stated that Boeing breached the agreement by failing to establish and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations. As a result, Boeing is now subject to potential prosecution, although the DOJ is still determining how it will proceed in this matter.
Boeing has until June 13 to respond to the DOJ's determination. The crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, respectively, resulted in the deaths of 346 people. Following the DOJ's announcement, Boeing released a statement asserting that it believes it has complied with the agreement's terms and looks forward to addressing the issue with the DOJ.
In April, family members of victims from the Ethiopia crash met with prosecutors in Washington D.C. to urge the DOJ to prosecute Boeing. Paul G. Cassell, the families' lawyer, described the DOJ's announcement as a "promising first step" but emphasized the need for further action to hold Boeing accountable. The DOJ has scheduled a meeting with the victims' families on May 31.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the victims' families were allegedly not given advance notice of the DOJ's filing of the letter.