US appeals court denies bid from families of Boeing 737 Max crash victims to reopen criminal case

Federal appeals court rejects requests from dozens of families who lost relatives in two deadly incidents Boeing 737 Max crash Reopening of criminal case against aircraft manufacturer.

Lawyers for the families had argued that the Justice Department did not properly consult with them before reaching a settlement with Boeing last year. a lower court to be dismissed charge of criminal conspiracy against the company. The charge stemmed from allegations that Boeing misled federal regulators about a flight control system linked to crashes that killed 346 people.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous decision Tuesday that it disagreed with the families’ arguments that federal prosecutors violated their rights under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and therefore could not revive the case.

The families’ lawyer, Paul Cassell, called the decision “deeply flawed.”

“Today’s verdict means Boeing is relieved of criminal justice responsibility for killing 346 people,” Cassell said in a statement Tuesday. “The victims’ families were never given a meaningful opportunity to shape negotiations between the Department of Justice and Boeing that stretched into 2020.”

Email messages seeking comment were sent to Boeing. At a hearing before the appeals court in New Orleans last month, Boeing attorney Paul Clement said more than 60 families “favorably support” the settlement and dozens more do not oppose it.

Clement said that “Boeing is deeply saddened by the tragic accidents” and “has taken extraordinary steps to improve its internal processes and has paid significant compensation to the families of the victims.”

The deal allowed Boeing to avoid investigation in exchange for paying an additional $1.1 billion in fines or investing an additional $1.1 billion, compensation to victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures.

At the same hearing, federal prosecutors told judges that the government has for years “solicited and considered the input of crash victims’ families in determining whether and how to prosecute the Boeing Company.”

All passengers and crew lost their lives when Lion Air crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019. dived into the sea off the coast of Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed Into a field shortly after takeoff.

The criminal case had gone through many twists and turns. Ministry of Justice The first Boeing to be charged He was accused of defrauding the government in 2021 but agreed not to press charges if the company paid a settlement and took steps to comply with anti-fraud laws.

Federal prosecutors later Set in 2024 Boeing violated this agreement and the company admitted it admit guilt to blame. But U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas, who oversaw the case for years, said rejected the plea deal and instructed both parties to restart negotiations.

The Justice Department returned last May with a new agreement and a request. withdraw the accusation Exactly what O’Connor confirmed in November. The Justice Department argued that the trial carried the risk that the jury would completely acquit Boeing and the company would not be punished further.

In dismissing the case, O’Connor said federal prosecutors did not act in bad faith, explained their decisions and fulfilled their obligations under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

O’Connor also said case law prevented him from firing him because he disagreed with the government’s view that the new deal with Boeing served the public interest.

The case centered around a software system Boeing developed for the 737 Max, which the airlines started flying in 2017. Boeing billed this as an update to the 737 family that doesn’t require a lot of additional pilot training.

But the Max included significant changes, some of which Boeing disparaged; most significant was the addition of an automatic flight control system designed to help account for the aircraft’s larger engines. Boeing did not mention the system in its aircraft manuals, and most The pilots did not know about this.

This software was involved in both fatal accidents. stuck his nose in The plane was shot down multiple times based on faulty readings from a single sensor, and pilots flying for Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines were unable to regain control. Following the Ethiopian crash, planes were grounded around the world for 20 months.

Investigators found that Boeing did not provide information Before regulators set pilot training requirements for the Max and certified the plane for flight, he briefed key Federal Aviation Administration staff on changes he was making to the software.

“We can only hope that another Boeing crash will not be the result of this deeply flawed decision,” Cassell, the families’ attorney, said in a statement Tuesday.