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Families of those who died in Boeing crashes press US Justice Department to prosecute the company

Published:Friday | May 31, 2024 | 9:22 PM
Catherine Berthet, of France, closes her eyes as she holds a photo of her deceased daughter Camille Geoffroy, in front of other families that lost loved ones to crashes of the Boeing 737 Max airliner outside the federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, January 26, 2023. Relatives of passengers who died in two Boeing Max crashes are pushing federal officials to prosecute the company, but they’re not getting any promises from the Justice Department.(AP Photo/LM Otero, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Relatives of passengers who died in two jetliner crashes pushed federal officials Friday to prosecute Boeing on criminal charges related to the accidents no later than this fall but said they got no commitment from the Justice Department.

The Justice Department determined two weeks ago that Boeing violated terms of a settlement that let the company avoid prosecution for deceiving regulators who approved the Boeing 737 Max. Prosecutors have said they will announce by July 7 whether the company will face sanctions.

Boeing agreed in 2021 to pay $2.5 billion — mostly compensation to airlines — to avoid prosecution on a fraud charge. Relatives of some of the 346 people who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes have tried ever since to scuttle the settlement.

It appeared that the fraud case would be dismissed permanently. But in January, a door plug blew off a Max during an Alaska Airlines flight, leading to new investigations of Boeing.

“They claimed the Max is completely safe, it's the most-scrutinised plane ever, even as the doors blow off on the Alaska Air (Max), and they can't blame the pilots anymore,” said Michael Stumo, whose daughter, Samya, died in the second crash.

The Justice Department declined to comment Friday but has said that Boeing violated terms of the 2021 settlement by failing to make promised changes to detect and prevent violations of federal anti-fraud laws.

Prosecutors have not publicly disclosed instances of potential fraud.

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