Families of crash victims of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashes filed today a 48-page motion in Texas federal court, asking the judge to reject the plea agreement the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed last week. Today’s motion asks the court to reject the plea agreement with Boeing on nine grounds including that it is too lenient given the criminal sentencing guidelines and that “it surreptitiously exonerates Boeing’s then-senior leadership.”
The Justice Department announced last week that it had reached a plea deal with Boeing, in which Boeing would plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. In today’s motion, the families criticize the deal as a “sweetheart” plea that allows Boeing to skate away from responsibility for killed 346 people.
The issue of whether to accept or reject the plea agreement now rests with Judge Reed O’Connor, who is overseeing the criminal matter. Families from around the world are intending to travel to an anticipated court hearing to argue against the deal. Judge O’Connor ruled earlier that the 346 family members who lost loved ones in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 were “victims” of Boeing’s crime of lying to the FAA, with rights under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
“This sweetheart deal deceptively presents a version of Boeing’s crime that conceals the fact that Boeing’s lies to the FAA directly and proximately killed 346 people,” said Paul Cassell, attorney for the families in this case and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. “This plea deal is not in the public interest. It is deceptive and unfair, and we urge Judge O’Connor to use his recognized authority to reject this inappropriate plea and set the matter for a public trial, so that all the facts surrounding the case will be aired in a fair and open forum before a jury.”
“The families are highly disappointed that the DOJ fails to account for the two crashes,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices and Lead Counsel for the families in the civil litigation pending in federal district court in Chicago. “The families will continue to fight for justice and safety for the flying public in the names of their deceased loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice. There must be accountability for the loss of 346 lives.”
In support of their motion, the victims’ families filed today their own “statement of facts” about what happened to produce the two crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The statement of facts presents extensive evidence that the Justice Department and Boeing did not disclose in their proposed plea agreement. Some of the evidence was filed under seal, because it is covered by a protective order obtained by Boeing in earlier civil litigation.
Chris Moore of Canada who lost his 24-year-old daughter Danielle in the crash of a Boeing MAX8 jet in Ethiopia, said, “The DOJ’s handling of the Boeing MAX case has failed the main tenets of justice once again. Whereas the DPA, was a ‘sweetheart deal,’ the plea bargain is a ‘do over.’ The average citizen during criminal prosecutions doesn’t get a ‘do over.’ More to the point, my daughter didn’t get a ‘do over,’ which is why the DOJ should take justice seriously instead of bowing to the pressures of commerce.”
Catherine Berthet lost her daughter Camille in the March 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 jet in Ethiopia. She said, “I had hoped, when the DOJ notified Boeing that they had violated the DPA, when they met with us on several occasions, that the precise terms of the DPA would be enforced: in the event of noncompliance, the company was to be prosecuted and tried. Basically, this appalling door plug incident in January happened because, despite the constraints imposed by the DPA, nothing has changed at Boeing. What will the plea deal change? Nothing. The only way to change Boeing is simply to apply justice: make Boeing, Mr. Muilenburg and Mr. Calhoun accountable for their actions and decisions by facing a jury at a trial.”
Javier de Luis who lost his sister Graziella in the crash said, “The ultimate aim of this agreement should be to ensure that the two 737 Max crashes are never repeated. This agreement does nothing to achieve that objective. It is essentially a do-over of the failed DPA, with minor cosmetic changes. The DPA completely failed in changing Boeing’s behavior, culture, and practices, as evidenced by the Alaska Air door plug blowout. The DOJ should not be allowed to repeat the same actions and expect different results. The DOJ has put the financial health of Boeing ahead of its duty to act in the best interest of the American people.”
In May, the DOJ decided that Boeing had breached its obligations under a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) entered into with Boeing. DOJ found that Boeing had, for example, failed to fully satisfy the DPA requirement to “create and foster a culture of ethics and compliance with the law in its day-to-day operations by failing to mitigate known manufacturing and quality risks.
In connection with these issues, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has scheduled two full days of hearings in Washington, D.C., August 6-7, 2024 regarding safety issues at Boeing.
The terms of the plea agreement provide that The Boeing Company will plead guilty. So far, no senior executives at Boeing have been charged with a crime, even though families and their attorneys have sent evidence of Boeing’s then high-level executives being culpable in the conspiracy. Under the proposed deal, Boeing would pay a fine of $487 million with a $234 million credit given for monies previously paid, a tiny amount compared to the potential $21 billion fine that the families indicated Boeing was exposed to.
Clifford also commented on today’s announcement of a new CEO at Boeing, Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, former CEO of Rockwell Collins, effective August 8, 2024.
“The arrival of a new CEO at Boeing could not have happened at a more crucial and necessary time for the safety of the traveling public around the world. As a company, Boeing has been nose-diving in self-destructive flight under the past leadership of Muilenburg, Calhoun and the do-nothing Board of Directors. This move may give the company the ability to pull out of its impending total and fatal crash, unlike what occurred to the 346 innocent victims of the two Boeing 737 Max 8 preventable disasters. While this man is an industry insider, he does come from outside of Boeing and on the face of it has a well-regarded reputation in the industry. Maybe he can bring the company back to the stature it once held before it criminally and preventively killed 346 people.”
The families also object to the plea agreement’s procedures for DOJ appointing a corporate monitor for three years at Boeing facilities. The procedures would not ensure a truly independent monitor, the families explained. Instead of the court, to determine who that person or people should be. The families asked to be involved in the selection process with Judge O’Connor to have the final say in the selection of the monitor.
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For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).