In the ongoing case against 
Boeing over the two deadly 737 MAX jet accidents, families who lost loved ones in the Boeing planes may get their last chance to demand the company face prosecution on Wednesday, September 3. The presiding federal judge in Texas is set to hear arguments on a US government motion to dismiss the felony charge against Boeing.
By the time the Justice Department’s criminal fraud section briefed the judge in late May, the charge and the plea were off the table. A non-prosecution agreement the two sides struck said the government would dismiss the charge in exchange for Boeing paying or investing another $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the crash victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures.
Trump Strong Arms The Courts For Boeing
The felony criminal charges that Boeing is facing are due to two deadly disasters involving its 737 MAX aircraft, Ethiopian Airliness (ET) Flight 302 in March 2019 and Lion Air (JT) Flight 610 in October 2018. The combined fatalities from these two crashes claimed 346 lives. Boeing was accused of deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration during the MAX planes’ original certification process.
Boeing later withdrew its guilty plea, and a resolution was negotiated that avoided the Boeing Corporation being prosecuted for felony charges. The apparent reason for the non-prosecution agreement is an additional contribution to the settlement funds for the families of the victims, which has been pushed through by the Donald Trump Presidential Administration.
In the Government Status Report filed on May 17th, 2025, the prosecution gave new details on the progress of United States vs The Boeing Company. Negotiations between the court and Boeing went on for six months before President Donald Trump returned to office and ordered an end to the policy that gave Judge Reed O’Connor a basis for a pause in the case.
Judge O’Connor invited family members of the victims to speak in court against the government’s decision. Catherine Berthet, whose daughter, Camille Geoffrey, died at age 28 aboard Ethiopia’s jet at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, was quoted by Yahoo News regarding her intent to testify:
“While it is no surprise that Boeing is trying to buy everyone off, the fact that the DOJ, which had a guilty plea in its hands last year, has now decided not to prosecute Boeing regardless of the judge’s decision is a denial of justice, a total disregard for the victims and, above all, a disregard for the judge.”
The Price Of Passengers’ Lives
Boeing had admitted to defrauding the FAA by concealing safety problems with the 737 MAX, but blamed two technical pilots who misled regulators during certification. Only one pilot was prosecuted, and a jury acquitted him. The corporation then later withdrew its guilty plea. According to the negotiated terms, Boeing is expected to provide a further $444.5 million to a fund that is for crash victims, on top of an existing $500 million.
Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including $1.7 billion in compensation to airlines that could not use the planes during the 20-month grounded period after the second crash. The company also previously agreed to pay the families and a separate $243 million fine. Penalties, fines, and victims’ payments to date made by the Boeing Company:
|
Category |
Payment |
|---|---|
|
Penalties |
$1.7 billion |
|
Fine |
$243 million |
|
Payment |
$500 million |
According to Justice Department attorneys, the families of 110 crash victims are either in favor of a pre-trial settlement or do not object to the non-prosecution agreement. O’Connor’s power to reject the request without concluding that prosecutors acted in bad faith rather than in the public interest is another point of contention for the department’s attorneys.
Fundamental Failures At Every Level
As NPR reported, Judge O’Connor previously described the case as “the deadliest corporate crime in US history.” The severity of the fraud and resultant loss of life have no comparable example in the court’s history. Now, while the proposed additional compensation is a staggering sum, we will see if the victims’ families feel that it is sufficient in the wake of this tragedy
The automated system implicated in the crashes lowers the jet’s nose based on the needs of the new, larger engines on the 737 MAX. Prosecutors asserted that Boeing’s technical pilots withheld crucial information from the FAA, indicating that this automated system could activate under a range of conditions that were not disclosed.
- Stock Code
-
BA
- Date Founded
-
July 15, 1916
- CEO
-
Kelly Ortberg
- Headquarters Location
-
Chicago, USA
- Business Type
-
Planemaker
- Key Product Lines
-
Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787
This led to no warning, cautions, or other information in safety reports. As a result, airline pilots around the globe did not receive the appropriate training on the system, leaving them unfamiliar with its functionality when emergencies occurred during critical phases of flight. The result was the death of 346 individuals.
