U.S. Department of Justice accuses Boeing of violating airline crash agreement

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The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that Boeing violated a 2021 court settlement that prevented the company from being indicted following two plane crashes involving its 737 MAX aircraft.

In a brief submitted to a federal court in Texas, the Justice Department said that the manufacturer could now face federal prosecution, although it has not yet made a decision on the matter, EFE reported.

Boeing, according to the Department of Justice, has not made changes or implemented measures in its operations to avoid violating federal antifraud laws, which was a condition of the 2021 agreement.

Boeing delivered only 24 commercial airplanes in April

“The Government is determining how it will proceed in this matter,” the court brief states, quoted by U.S. media.

The 2021 legal settlement, which involved the company paying out $2.5 billion, came in the wake of the 2018 and 2019 accidents involving its 737 MAX aircraft, in which 346 people died in both.

The events were a serious reputational crisis for the U.S. manufacturer, which only resurfaced after a door on a 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines broke off in mid-flight on January 5.