2024-07-09 20:27:39
The American aircraft manufacturer Boeing agreed to an out-of-court admission of guilt in the case of two fatal 737 MAX aircraft accidents in 2018 and 2019. As part of the agreement, Boeing will pay a fine of 243.6 million dollars (5.6 billion crowns): The company also committed to investments to safety and quality control programs. The contract still needs to be approved by the court.
Boeing breached a 2021 agreement that avoided prosecution for withholding information about the development of the 737 MAX from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to US authorities. The company did not implement some of the promised measures for the prevention and detection of fraud in the company. Boeing denies violating the agreement. A settlement of 2.5 billion dollars (roughly 57 billion CZK) was part of the agreement.
Following the breach of the agreement, the US Department of Justice offered Boeing an out-of-court plea at the end of June. The company had until the end of last week to think about it. If she did not agree to the agreement, she would face trial for fraud.
As part of the new agreement, Boeing has pledged to invest $455 million over three years in safety and quality control programs, according to Reuters. An impartial body will supervise the investments. The top managers of the company should also meet with the relatives of the victims of both accidents.
A total of 346 people died in both crashes in 2018 and 2019. Problems with the assistance software were behind the accidents of the 737 MAX 8 of the Indonesian company Lion Air and the airline Ethiopian Airlines. The system, called MCAS, was supposed to help pilots control the plane. In both cases, however, he surprised them with an unexpected and unpredictable intervention in the proceedings. Since the second crash in March 2019, the model was not allowed to fly for 20 months.