'Crime victims' status is applied by US judge in Boeing 737 MAX disasters

 

In October 2018, the first Boeing Max 737 crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people. A second Boeing Max 737 crashed in Ethiopia, killing 157 people.

According to a United States federal court judge, the families of the 346 victims of the two Boeing 737 Max plane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia are representatives of crime victims under federal law and ought to have been informed about any private negotiations for a settlement that shielded Boeing from criminal prosecution.

The Friday decision's full effects are not yet known, though. The judge stated that the next stage is to evaluate what remedies the victims' families should receive because they weren't informed of the discussions between the US government and Boeing.

In October 2018, the first Boeing Max 737 crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people. Five months later, a second Boeing Max 737 crashed in Ethiopia, killing 157 people.

For almost two years, all Boeing 737 Max aircraft were grounded worldwide. After Boeing rebuilt an automated flight-control system that had malfunctioned in both crashes, they were given the all-clear to take to the skies once more.

Families want the US government's January 2021 deal with Boeing to be thrown out, and they're upset that no one at the corporation has been charged criminally for the two crashes.

A request for comment on the judge's decision was not immediately answered by Arlington, Virginia-based Boeing Co.

When safety regulators who authorised the Max were mislead, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including a $243.6 million fine. In exchange, the US Justice Department consented to drop its case against the business for conspiring to deceive the government.

The Justice Department claimed the relatives were not crime victims in its justification for not informing families about the covert talks with the business.

The crashes were a foreseen result of Boeing's conspiracy, according to US District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, who declared on Friday that the relatives are now standing in for the victims of crime.

"In conclusion, 346 people would not have lost their lives in the crashes but for Boeing's criminal conspiracy to cheat the FAA," he said.

MCAS, a safety mechanism related to two deadly crashes and intended to help mitigate the MAX's propensity to pitch up, was one of the safety features that Boeing should have disclosed to the Federal Aviation Administration but did not.

According to O'Connor, Ethiopian and Indonesian pilots would have "had training sufficient to respond to the MCAS activation that occurred on both aircrafts" if Boeing had not committed its crime.

The decision "is a significant success," according to Paul Cassell, an attorney representing the families, and "sets the ground for a key hearing, where we will offer proposed remedies that would allow criminal prosecution to hold Boeing completely accountable."

Naoise Connolly Ryan, an Irish woman, has long argued that Boeing is to blame for her husband Mick Ryan's passing. Mick Ryan was a senior engineer with the United Nations World Food Programme who perished in the second Max tragedy in Ethiopia.

"Families like mine are the actual victims of Boeing's criminal actions," she said in a statement released by a lawyer for the families. "Our perspectives should have been considered before the government handed them a sweetheart deal."

According to the Irish Examiner newspaper, Onnolly Ryan had been given a sizable cash payout by Boeing along with the other deceased families, but she had declined it because she wanted justice.

Following two deadly incidents involving the aircraft, Bloomberg News reported in 2021 that firm shareholders had charged Boeing Co. directors for lying about the company's control of its 737 Max 8 airliner and having taken part in a deceptive PR campaign.

Unsealed court documents claim that the Boeing board ignored warning signs regarding the 737 Max, failed to create adequate tools to assess the planes' safety, and failed to hold former executives accountable for a public relations campaign that countered criticism of the design flaws, according to Bloomberg.