The US Justice Department will charge Boeing over two crashes and ask the plane maker to plead guilty. Later in the day the Justice Department planned to offer a plea agreement to Boeing, which includes a financial penalty and imposition of an independent monitor to audit the company’s safety.
Justice Department officials come up with a plan to give Boeing until the end of the week to reply to the offer, which they will present as non-negotiable, according to the media sources.
Boeing and the Justice Department declined to comment. The Justice Department decided to charge Boeing after finding it violated a 2021 agreement that had shielded it from prosecution over the fatal crashes involving 737 MAX jets. The deadly crashes took place in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
The decision to move toward criminally charging Boeing deepens an ongoing crisis engulfing the planemaker, exposing the company to additional financial ramifications and tougher government oversight.
A guilty plea could also carry implications for Boeing’s ability to enter into government contracts such as those with the US military that make up a significant portion of its revenue.
Companies with convictions can receive waivers but it remained unclear to what extent the Justice Department’s proposed plea deal addresses the issue.
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