A criminal case that had been held against Boeing for the fatal crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 has been dropped. Federal Judge Reed O’Connor made the move in the state of Texas, as they dismissed the case upon a request from the Department of Justice.
The two aircraft crashes, which occurred in October 2018 (Lion Air) and March 2019 (Ethiopian Airlines), were deadly for all onboard, resulting in a total of 346 fatalities, including passengers and crew. These incidents led to the global grounding of the MAX aircraft, with their airworthiness revoked after the second deadly incident, which was found to be caused by a flight control failure.
Criminal Conspiracy Against Boeing
A criminal conspiracy case was held against Boeing following the two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The Department of Justice had initially accused Boeing of deceiving the federal regulators in relation to flight control system issues. Following the dismissal, Boeing has agreed that it would pay and or invest up to $1.1 billion in compensation to victims’ families, alongside other fines.
This dismissal comes almost a year after Boeing had reached an agreement with the DOJ, under which it would see the American plane manufacturer plead guilty and serve a term of probation. In a report by CNBC, the dismissal order acknowledged the victims’ families, many of whom opposed the dismissal, that the agreement could fail to secure the necessary accountability to ensure the safety of the flying public, and that the dismissal did not acknowledge that the manufacturer needed to be subject to independent monitoring.
In addition to this, the judge noted that he was not in a position to deny the dismissal request, even though he may not have fully agreed with the findings.
Alleged Obstruction Of FAA Evaluation
In 2021, the Department Of Justice charged Boeing based on the conspiracy that it was attempting to defraud the United States by allegedly obstructing the FAA evaluation of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 maneuvering augmentation system. At this time, the DOJ looked to a deferred prosecution with Boeing, which in effect would suspend any prosecution and stand more as a warning.
By May 2024, Boeing had breached this deferred prosecution deal due to failing to design and implement an ethics program that would be able to prevent and detect any future violations of US fraud laws. The lack of enforced compliance to this saw Boeing submit a plea to Judge O’Connor. Following President Trump’s return to the White House, months after the DOJ then requested O’Connor to dismiss the case altogether, which raises the question of judicial overreach, explaining: “The Government now believes that Boeing can be trusted to select a compliance consultant because Boeing has made ‘meaningful progress in improving its anti-fraud compliance and ethics programs.’”
|
Incident |
Aircraft Registration |
Date |
Flight Origin |
Flight Destination |
Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lion Air JT610 |
PK-LQP |
October 29, 2018 |
Jakarta (CGK) |
Pangkalpinang (PGK) |
189 (181 passengers / eight crew) |
|
Ethiopian Airlines ET302 |
ET-AVJ |
March 10, 2019 |
Addis Ababa (ADD) |
Nairobi (NBO) |
157 (149 passengers / eight crew) |
The government’s current position on the case is that Boeing committed crimes that justified prosecution, failing to remedy behavior that led to a guilty plea, and is subject to independent monitoring. However, now 
Boeing will remedy this culture by retaining a consultant of ‘its own choosing’.
Two Fatal Flights
The first of these two fatal flights was that of the Indonesian airline, Lion Air. The airline was operating a domestic flight on October 29, 2018, between 
Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) and the community of Pangkalpinang Depati Amir Airport (PGK). Just 13 minutes after the MAX 8 aircraft took off, the airplane crashed into the Java Sea. This was the first major accident and hull loss for the MAX family of aircraft. All 181 passengers and eight crew members perished in the incident.
The next incident occurred on March 10, 2019, when an Ethiopian Airlines MAX 8 aircraft was set to operate an international flight between Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) and Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO). The airplane crashed into the ground just six minutes after takeoff, near the town of Bishoftu. This was Ethiopian Airlines’ deadliest crash to date, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew on board.
These incidents cost Boeing an estimated $20 billion in fines, compensation, and legal fees, and indirect losses, which were estimated at more than $60 million according to the American Machinst. The MAX was grounded until December 2020, and only recertified for Europe and Canada by 2021.
