Families of plane crash victims ask US appeals court to revive a criminal case against Boeing

Families of Boeing 737 Max Crash Victims Seek to Revive Criminal Case

Thirty-one families who lost loved ones in two Boeing 737 Max crashes that claimed 346 lives are fighting to reinstate criminal charges against the aerospace giant. On Thursday, they presented their case to a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, challenging a lower court’s dismissal of conspiracy charges against Boeing.

The families’ attorney, Paul Cassell, argued that federal prosecutors violated victims’ rights by excluding them from consultations before reaching a settlement with Boeing. The agreement, which allowed Boeing to avoid prosecution, required the company to pay or invest an additional $1.1 billion in fines, victim compensation, and safety improvements.

“I feel that there wouldn’t be meaningful accountability without a trial,” said Paul Njoroge, who lost his wife, three children, and mother-in-law in the second crash. Njoroge was among more than a dozen family members who attended the hearing, with many others worldwide listening to the proceedings via livestream.

The crashes occurred less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019. The first involved a Lion Air flight that plunged into the Java Sea off Indonesia’s coast, while the second saw an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All passengers and crew perished in both incidents.

Federal prosecutors defended their actions, stating they had “solicited and weighed the views of the crash victims’ families” throughout the years-long process of determining how to prosecute Boeing. Boeing attorney Paul Clement noted that more than 60 families of crash victims “affirmatively supported” the settlement, with many others not opposing it.

The case’s history includes numerous legal twists. Initially charged in 2021 with defrauding the government, Boeing entered a deferred prosecution agreement. However, prosecutors later determined Boeing had violated that agreement, leading the company to agree to plead guilty. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor rejected that plea deal and ordered renewed negotiations, resulting in the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the criminal charge entirely.

While Judge O’Connor found the families’ arguments “compelling,” he ruled that legal precedent prevented him from blocking the dismissal simply because he disagreed with the government’s position that the Boeing deal served the public interest. He concluded prosecutors hadn’t acted in bad faith and had met their obligations under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

The Justice Department has argued that pursuing a trial carried the risk of Boeing’s acquittal, which would have left the company without any additional penalties.

At the center of the controversy is the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), software Boeing developed for the 737 Max. The aircraft was Boeing’s competitive response to Airbus’s fuel-efficient A320neo. Boeing marketed the Max as an updated 737 that wouldn’t require extensive additional pilot training, despite significant changes to the aircraft.

Most critically, Boeing downplayed the addition of the automated MCAS flight-control system, designed to compensate for the plane’s larger engines. The system wasn’t mentioned in airplane manuals, leaving most pilots unaware of its existence. In both crashes, MCAS repeatedly forced the aircraft’s nose downward based on faulty readings from a single sensor, with pilots unable to regain control.

Investigations revealed that Boeing failed to inform key Federal Aviation Administration personnel about MCAS modifications before regulators certified the airliner and established pilot training requirements. Following the Ethiopian Airlines crash, aviation authorities worldwide grounded the 737 Max fleet for 20 months.

The appeals court panel has not provided a timeline for its decision. Meanwhile, Boeing continues to face intense scrutiny over its safety culture, particularly following a January 2024 incident where a door plug blew out of a 737 Max 9 during flight, prompting fresh questions about the company’s manufacturing standards.

Boeing attorney Clement emphasized that the company “deeply regrets” the crashes and “has taken extraordinary steps to improve its internal processes” while paying “substantial compensation” to victims’ families.