Court rejects Boeing plea deal stemming from 737 Max crashes

A federal judge in Texas has rejected a proposed plea deal between Boeing and the U.S. Justice Department, saying the court should play a bigger role in selecting an independent monitor to oversee the company.

The decision is a victory for family members of people killed in the deadly crashes of two Boeing 737 Max jets, who opposed an agreement they argued was too lenient.

Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas objected to the framework that Boeing and the Justice Department crafted to select an independent monitor.

"Marginalizing the Court in the selection and monitoring of the independent monitor as the plea agreement does undermines public confidence in Boeing's probation," O'Connor wrote in an order published Thursday.

The judge also objected to a requirement that the monitor selection process adhere to the DOJ's diversity and inclusion policy.

"It is in the utmost interest of justice that the public is confident this monitor selection is done based solely on competency," O'Connor wrote in his ruling. "The parties' DEI efforts only serve to undermine this confidence in the Government and Boeing's ethics and anti-fraud efforts."

The agreement between Boeing and the DOJ stems from the crashes of two 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

Under the deal, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to defraud regulators about the safety of those planes, and to pay a fine of more than $240 million. The aerospace giant would also be put on probation, and subject to an independent compliance monitor — selected by the Justice Department, with input from Boeing — for three years.

Boeing and the DOJ reached a similar agreement in 2021. But after a door plug panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max jet in midair in January, federal prosecutors concluded that Boeing had failed to hold up its end of the deal.

In his order, Judge O'Connor gave Boeing and the DOJ 30 days to confer and update the court on their next steps.