World News

Boeing recommended for prosecution

US officials have told the Department of Justice (DoJ) that Boeing should be charged with crimes.

The Department of Justice said the plane maker had broken a settlement agreement linked to two crashes involving its 737 Max planes that killed 346 people.

The DoJ has until July 7 to decide if they will go after the company. The DoJ has been asked for a response.

CBS says the suggestion is not a final decision and that the specifics of any possible illegal action are unknown.

"This is a critical choice that needs to be made soon," said Ed Pierson, executive head of the Foundation for Aviation Safety and former top manager at Boeing.

The man told Radio 4 Today show, "These planes are having problems." There are problems with these planes—the 737 Max and the 787—which shows what kind of leadership there is.

Both crashes involved Boeing 737 Max planes and happened within six months of each other.

Lion Air from Indonesia crashed in October 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed in March 2019.

Last week, the families of the dead asked officials to go after Boeing for a $25 billion (£14.6 billion) fine and a criminal case.

When Boeing and the government reached a deal in 2021, Boeing agreed to pay a $2.5 billion settlement, and the lawyers agreed to ask the court to drop a criminal charge after three years as long as the company followed the rules set out in the settlement.

However, the DOJ said Boeing had broken the deal last month because it had not "designed, implemented, and enforced a compliance and ethics programme to prevent and detect violations of the US fraud laws throughout its operations."

US senators grilled Dave Calhoun, who is leaving his job as CEO of Boeing, last week.

Even though Mr. Calhoun said that the company had "learned" from its mistakes and that the process for employees who want to report wrongdoing "works," lawmakers still said that he was not doing enough to fix a culture of revenge.

As part of a continuing probe, people who worked for Boeing told the Senate in April that there were significant production problems with the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner, and the 777 types.

The last big news about the company was in January, when a door panel fell off an Alaska Airlines flight of a new 737 Max plane, leaving a huge hole.

After less than five years in the job, Mr. Calhoun leaves as CEO at the end of 2024, leaving behind a $33m pay deal. He will also stay on the board of Boeing.

Dennis Muilenburg was fired after the two crashes, and Mr. Calhoun took over and did a great job.

According to Mr Pearson, only "superficial" changes were at the top of Boeing. Mr Calhoun had already been at the company for ten years when he was named CEO in 2019.

"They are making those decisions that have affected millions and millions of people for many years," he said.