SEATTLE — The Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to come to a decision about whether Boeing defied an agreement to avoid felony charges in two fatal 737 Max crashes by the end of this month, according to a letter sent to the families of the victims.
The agreement stipulated that Boeing must avoid committing a felony offense in order to avoid charges related to the 2018 and 2019 crashes, which killed 346 people. Boeing employees were found to have lied to federal regulators about a flight control system on the 737 Max 8 jet, which was implicated in causing both crashes. The agreement was met with outcry from the families of the victims, who said their voices were left out of the DOJ's decision.
The DOJ is currently investigating whether Boeing violated that agreement related to an incident where a door plug blew out of a 737 Max 9 jet in early January - and therefore could face felony charges in the Max 8 crashes after all.
In early January, a door plug ripped away from a jet operated by Alaska Airlines about seven minutes into the flight, when the plane was about 16,000 feet in the air. The fuselage rapidly depressurized, but thankfully no one was sitting in the aisle directly next to the door plug. No one was killed, but dozens of passengers have filed lawsuits against Boeing and Alaska Airlines, citing lasting emotional trauma and physical injuries related to the incident.
A National Transportation Safety Board report found that bolts, which were supposed to secure the door plug to the fuselage, were left off after maintenance work performed at the company's Renton factory. The DOJ opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
