Families of some of the people who died in two Boeing 737 Max crashes are asking federal officials to fine Boeing $24.8 billion and move quickly to prosecute the company on a criminal charge that was set aside three years ago.
A lawyer for the families said in a letter Wednesday to the Justice Department that a large fine is justified “because Boeing’s crime is the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history.”at the time of the crashes in 2018 and 2019, including then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg. In all, 346 people were killed in the crashes.
The first crash occurred when a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea in October 2018 — and the second in March 2019, when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed nearly straight down into a field six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa. The push by the families comes as the Justice Department considers whether to revive a dormant criminal charge of fraud against Boeing. Last month, prosecutors determined that the companySurvivors of New Hampshire motorcycle crash that killed 7 urge a judge to keep trucker off the roadMalawi’s vice president laid to rest as president calls for an independent probe into his death
The Justice Department has until July 7 to tell a federal judge in Texas whether it will revive the case. During aBoeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company previously has said it met its obligations under the 2021 settlement.during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. That incident led to increased scrutiny of the company and outgoing CEO David Calhoun, who defended Boeing’s safety record during Tuesday’s Senate hearing.