A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a criminal conspiracy charge against Boeing over two deadly 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people.
According to The Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor approved the Justice Department’s request Thursday to drop the case as part of a deal requiring Boeing to pay or invest an additional $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for victims’ families, and internal safety improvements.
The decision followed an emotional hearing in September where relatives of crash victims urged O’Connor to reject the agreement and appoint a special prosecutor.
All passengers and crew were killed when Boeing 737 Max jets crashed off Indonesia and in Ethiopia within five months of each other in 2018 and 2019. Prosecutors had accused the company of misleading regulators about a flight-control system later tied to both crashes.
The Justice Department first charged Boeing in January 2021 with defrauding the U.S. government. A previous plea deal that would have required Boeing to plead guilty fell apart after O’Connor declined to approve it.
The 737 Max entered service in 2017 but was grounded globally for 20 months after the second crash while Boeing redesigned the software at the center of the controversy.
Federal prosecutors said the new agreement serves the public interest better than a trial that could risk a jury verdict sparing Boeing from further penalties. They added that families of 110 victims supported or did not oppose the settlement.
But nearly 100 families opposed the deal, including several who traveled from overseas to speak at the September hearing.
“Do not allow Boeing to buy its freedom,” said Catherine Berthet of France, whose daughter, Camille Geoffroy, died in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash.
Investigators found Boeing failed to inform key Federal Aviation Administration officials about changes to the flight-control software before regulators set pilot training requirements and certified the aircraft. The system, relying on a single faulty sensor, repeatedly forced the planes’ noses downward in both crashes.
