Boeing avoids guilty plea for 737 MAX crashes case from DOJ
May 16, 2025, 9:08 AM
The Boeing logo is displayed in El Segundo, Calif., on Jan. 25, 2011. (Photo: Reed Saxon, The Associated Press)
(Photo: Reed Saxon, The Associated Press)
Boeing avoided criminal charges after the Justice Department came to a tentative agreement with the company not to prosecute the airline manufacturer for violating an earlier criminal settlement, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Boeing, America’s biggest exporter, avoided being labeled a felon after the Justice Department pushed to spare Boeing from a guilty plea over charges related to two deadly 737 MAX crashes.
The company previously admitted that former employees deceived air-safety regulators before the two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. A total of 346 people perished in those crashes, separated by just five months. A resolution was reached in Jan. 2021, with the criminal investigation placing Boeing on corporate probation.
But, according to The Wall Street Journal, prosecutors claimed Boeing violated the resolution in 2024.
Instead of pleading guilty, the aerospace company would receive a nonprosecution agreement. The Justice Department’s reversal is one of the most prominent examples of how the Trump administration has differed from Biden, not pursuing harsh penalties for companies violating the law.
Families of victims continue to demand justice, while Boeing works to navigate the legal fallout.
“Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims, who Boeing killed through its callous lies,” Paul Cassell, an attorney for some of the families, said Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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