The families of the victims of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes requested the Department of Justice on Wednesday to seek fines of up to $24.78 billion from the aircraft manufacturer and to initiate criminal prosecution.
Paul Cassel, the attorney representing 15 families, stated in a letter to the Department of Justice, “Since the crime committed by Boeing is the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history, a maximum fine of more than $24 billion is legally reasonable and clearly appropriate.”
New Developments and Legal Proceedings
In January, following the explosion of a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 during a flight operated by Alaska Airlines, Boeing faced a series of lawsuits related to a manufacturing defect. MAX jets had previously crashed in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, causing the deaths of 346 people. These incidents highlighted ongoing safety and quality issues at Boeing.
The families of those who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes suggested that the Department of Justice could suspend $14 billion to $22 billion of the penalty, provided Boeing allocates the suspended funds to an independent corporate monitor and improvements in compliance and safety.
CEO Apology and Future Safety Commitment
This development came a day after Boeing CEO David Calhoun faced intense questioning in a special Senate hearing, where he apologized to the families of crash victims and affirmed the company’s “full commitment” to future aircraft safety.
Calhoun told the families attending the hearing, “On behalf of everyone at Boeing, I want to personally apologize. We are deeply sorry for your loss. Nothing is more important than the safety of those who fly on our airplanes.”
Call for Board Meeting and Criminal Prosecution
The families also requested in the letter that Boeing’s board be called to meet with them and that the department initiate criminal prosecution of the responsible corporate officials at Boeing during the two crashes. In May, the Department of Justice announced that Boeing had violated the deferred prosecution agreement reached in 2021, which protected the company from charges of conspiracy to commit fraud related to the fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Senator Blumenthal’s Opinion
The letter included the opinion of Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations: “As a former prosecutor, in my view, there is nearly overwhelming evidence that prosecution is warranted.”
The two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 led to the grounding of the best-selling aircraft worldwide for 20 months. Both fatal crashes were linked to a safety system called MCAS.
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