On Thursday, a U.S. judge rejected Boeing’s guilty plea to fraud related to two fatal crashes caused by the then-brand-new plane’s MCAS system. Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The agreement was rejected because of its provisions on diversity and inclusion.
plea bargain rejected
On Dec. 5, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, focused on one sentence in his ruling: boeing US-brokered plea deal Ministry of Justice (Department of Justice). The article referred to the Department of Justice’s diversity policy regarding the selection of an independent oversight organization to audit aircraft manufacturers’ compliance practices.
Photo: Boeing
A Justice Department spokesperson told Voice of America (VOA) that the agency is considering the judge’s opinion. Boeing and the Department of Justice currently have several options. Both men could appeal the rejection of the plea deal or renegotiate the deal to present it to the court. In any case, the Justice Department has 30 days to update the court on its next course of action.
It is unusual for a judge to reject a plea bargain over an issue that is not in dispute by the parties. In this case, the judge appears to want to impose a harsher penalty than what prosecutors had agreed to with the aircraft manufacturer.
Additionally, the plea agreement reduces the judge’s authority to select and supervise an independent monitor to monitor Boeing’s compliance practices. The agreement also prohibits Boeing from imposing trial period conditions that require it to comply with the watchdog’s anti-corruption recommendations. This means Boeing may ignore the recommendations and take no steps to resolve these issues. As a result, the judge said the deal was “not in the public interest.”
Simple Flying has requested a statement from Boeing.
Response to rejection
The families of the victims of the collision Lion Air Flight 610 and ethiopian airlines Flight 302 vehemently opposes the plea deal, calling it a “sweetheart” deal that failed to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths of their loved ones.
The two crashes, which killed a combined 346 people, were a direct result of Boeing’s choice to hide the effects of its MCAS system, and an internal memo by test pilots and engineers said the company was not aware of any safety risks. I knew that it was. scam Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA).
Attorney Paul Cassel, who represents the family, said of the rejection of the plea deal:
“Judge O’Connor acknowledged that this was a cozy deal…focusing on the overriding concern of holding Boeing accountable for serious crimes and ensuring that nothing like this happens again in the future.” I couldn’t guess.”
If Boeing accepts the plea deal, it will be branded as a felon. However, this is what the victim’s family hopes for. Boeing and its executives charged in death of loved one and evidence of wrongdoing presented in open court. They also want the company to pay $24.78 billion in compensation for the crash.
As part of the plea agreement, Boeing will pay up to $487.2 million in fines and commit $455 million to improve safety and compliance practices during three years of court-supervised probation. It is noteworthy that they agreed to spend. The fine is equivalent to the cost of eight 737 MAX aircraft.
related
The U.S. government, led by the Department of Justice, gave Boeing 30 days to respond to the allegations.
