(NewsNation) — Families of plane crash victims who died in the 2018 and 2019 Boeing Max jet crashes are set to meet with the Department of Justice on Friday to make their case that the world’s largest aerospace company should be held criminally accountable for their loved ones’ deaths.
The meeting follows years of victims’ families fighting for justice since the Ethiopia and Indonesia crashes that killed 346 people.
Holding Boeing accountable
“We are committed to holding Boeing accountable because they have never been held accountable for the deaths of 346 people,” Nadia Milleron said.
Milleron’s daughter was killed in the 2019 Ethiopia crash while traveling in a Boeing 737 Max plane.
Boeing originally settled with the DOJ in 2021 in a deal that allowed the company to avoid prosecution. The charge was based on the company allegedly deceiving regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes. However, recent problems could expose the company to criminal prosecution.
Boeing violated terms of agreement: DOJ
The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Boeing violated those terms amid renewed scrutiny of a January midflight blowout of a fuselage door panel on an Alaska Airlines plane.
Nobody was hurt during the Jan. 5 blowout on a relatively new Boeing 737 Max 9 as it flew above Oregon. Accident investigators determined that bolts used to help secure the panel were missing after a repair job in a Boeing factory.
The mishap further battered Boeing’s reputation, led to multiple civil and criminal investigations, and prompted FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker to order a report that Boeing delivered Thursday.
The 11-page summary of Boeing’s “Product Safety and Quality Plan,” which described steps the company is taking, included increased inspections and tighter controls over suppliers. It also said how Boeing will measure its improvement.
Boeing and FAA plan to improve
On Thursday, Whitaker said his agency met with Boeing officials, calling their plan comprehensive and committing the FAA to ensuring it is implemented effectively.
In the meantime, it will continue its stepped-up oversight of the company and still not allow Boeing to exceed production limits on its 737 Max aircraft.
“I made it clear to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun that this does not mark the end of the increased oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, but the beginning of the next chapter,” Whitaker said, “We will not approve production increases beyond the current cap until we’re satisfied. Bottom line, we will continue to make sure every airplane that comes off the line is safe and reliable.”
In a statement, Calhoun commented about Boeing’s safety management plan.
“Many of these actions are underway and our team is committed to executing on each element of the plan,” he said. “It is through this continuous learning and improvement process that our industry has made commercial aviation the safest mode of transportation.”
Boeing officials have vowed to regain the trust of regulators and the flying public. The company has fallen behind rival Airbus, and production setbacks have hurt the company’s ability to generate cash.
The DOJ has not commented on the settlement agreement and how it will proceed, other than to say Boeing violated the terms.
DOJ officials also said that by July 7, it would tell a judge how to proceed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
