On Thursday, federal judge Reed C. O’Connor ordered the Boeing Company to appear in court for arraignment. The arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. CST on Jan. 26 in Fort Worth, Texas.
In January 2021, Boeing entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas to resolve the criminal charges filed against the company. The charges against them were for a conspiracy to defraud the FAA Aircraft Evaluation Group (AEG) in connection with the group’s evaluation of the Boeing 737 MAX.
RELATED STORIES:
NTSB says Ethiopian 737-8 MAX crash investigation left out key facts
House Report Faults Boeing and FAA Failures for Deadly 737 MAX Crashes
US DOT to audit FAA oversight of Boeing 737, 787 production
According to a court docket, Boeing admitted in court documents that two of the 737 MAX Flight Technical Pilots, deceived the FAA AEG, which had both evaluated and then mandated pilot-training requirements for U.S.-based airlines flying the aircraft, about the speed range that part of the 737 MAX flight controls, Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), operated.
Boeing had agreed as part of the DPA to pay over $2.5 billion, which included a monetary penalty of $243.6 million, compensation for the Boeing 737 MAX customers totaling $1.77 billion, and a $500 million fund for the heirs, relatives and legal beneficiaries of the 346 individuals who died in the Lion Air Flight 610 on Oct. 29, 2018, and the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019.
The DPA is in effect for three years and Boeing has agreed not to make any public statement that could contradict the acceptance of responsibility and admission of the facts in the DPA’s Statement of Facts. Since the charges were filed in a public court, the victims have the right to be involved in the court proceedings, to be present and heard through the whole process.
On Oct. 21, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order that held over a dozen family members and representatives of individuals that died in the two crashes. The order stated that they were directly harmed by Boeing’s conspiracy to defraud the U.S., which Boeing admitted to in the DPA, and were victims under the Crime Victim’s Rights Act (CRVA).
Families of the victims said the government had violated their rights by settling with Boeing without first notifying them. Judge O’Connor ordered Boeing to send a representative to his courtroom for arraignment. The US News reported that the judge’s ruling does not guarantee Boeing will face prosecution, but that is still the goal of the lawyers for many relatives of the people killed in the crash.
Boeing received immunity as part of the 2021 settlement, which the victims urged O’Connor to rescind, according to Reuters. They pressed the judge to arraign Boeing on felony charges. The families and representatives are set to speak at the hearing, according to KTVU. The only criminal charges so far were filed against a former Boeing test pilot, accused of deceiving the FAA, who was found not guilty last year.
There has been no comment from Boeing and the Justice Department on the latest development in the case.
Contact
Name: Haley Davoren
, Digital Content Manager
Company: GlobalAir.com
Website: http://globalair.com
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 502-456-3934
©2023 GlobalAir.com, Haley Davoren. All rights reserved.
Recent Comments