US government slammed for planning to offer Boeing a 'sweetheart deal' over fatal plane crashes that killed 346 people

The US Department of Justice is set to charge Boeing with fraud, but plans to offer the plane maker a plea deal, according to sources familiar with the matter. Loved ones of those who lost their lives on the two flights are infuriated by the prospect.

Boeing will be granted until the end of this week to decide whether it will plead guilty to the charge and avoid trial, officials told families of those on board the fatal Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 that claimed 346 lives. Attorneys representing the relatives accused the federal government of cooking up “another sweetheart plea deal” with Boeing.

On a conference call on Sunday (30 June), relatives were briefed on the terms of the proposed deal: Boeing would pay a fine, face a three-year term of probation, and work under a corporate monitor, according to two sources.

Erin Applebaum, another attorney acting for relatives of those lost, attacked the proposal as “shameful” and said it “completely fails to mention or recognize the dignity” of the victims. The families will make the case to a judge, and the wider public, for this deal to be rejected, Applebaum said.

Neither the US Justice Department nor Boeing immediately responded to a request for comment. The two crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max, in October 2018 and March 2019, killed 346 people. It prompted the worldwide grounding of the jet for almost two years.

Boeing also came under intense scrutiny this year after a brand-new 737 Max jet was forced into an emergency landing when a cabin panel blew off mid-flight. According to investigators, the door had originally been fitted by Spirit - the airline supplier that Boeing now says it is buying back in a deal worth a total of $8.3bn including debt.