After two crashes and the beginning of a major crisis for the US aircraft company Boeing, it is now time for money: As part of an agreement with the US judiciary, Boeing wants to plead guilty and pay hundreds of millions of US dollars.
As part of an agreement with the US Department of Justice, the aircraft manufacturer will plead guilty to the crashes of two Boeing aircraft more than five years ago, which killed a total of 346 people. The settlement includes the payment of a fine of $243.6 million, according to court documents filed in the US state of Texas on Wednesday.
Boeing had already had to pay a fine of this amount in the past. The agreement now also includes Boeing investing at least $455 million in “compliance and safety programs.” The settlement still has to be approved by a federal judge.
Boeing declares “agreement in principle” with the Justice Department
The 737 MAX aircraft crashed in Indonesia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia in March 2019. The Justice Department announced in May that Boeing could be prosecuted again for this. An agreement with the US authorities from early 2021 to discontinue the investigation was no longer valid because Boeing had violated the obligations it had entered into, it said at the time. At the beginning of the month, the aircraft manufacturer announced that an “agreement in principle” had been reached with the Justice Department.
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Boeing once conquered the world in flight – but then the aircraft manufacturer fell into a tailspin
Boeing is once again under pressure due to allegations of safety defects in its aircraft. An incident in January caused a particularly big stir when a cabin door cover fell off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 during flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing. The US aviation authority FAA then limited production of the 737 MAX to 38 per month, which is the level expected in 2023.
Source: Stern
