Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge in a plea deal with the Justice Department to help settle a federal criminal case over the deadly crashes involving two of 737 Max plans that resulted in the death of 346 people in 2018 and 2019.
Two Boeing 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 caused the deaths of 346 people.
In a court filing late on Sunday, the Justice Department said Boeing will plead guilty to the felony charge of “conspiracy to defraud the United States, specifically, the lawful function of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group.”
As part of the deal, Boeing agreed to pay an additional fine of $243.6 million—the same penalty the company had paid as part of a settlement in 2021 that it was later accused of violating.
The filing notes that Boeing's total fine of $487.2 million is the maximum allowed under law for the charged offenses.
The plane maker will also be required to invest approximately $455 million over the next three years to improve its compliance and safety programs.
This is a developing story.