Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge stemming from two 737 Max crashes that resulted in the deaths of 346 people, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has revealed.
The total fine faced by the US planemaker comes in at $487.2m, which is the maximum by law.
Boeing has already paid $243.6m, half of the total. It confirmed it had “reached an agreement in principle on terms of a resolution with the justice department”.
The charge comes after Boeing breached a 2021 agreement with the DoJ in the wake of the incidents, which had protected it from prosecution for over three years.
Families of those who died in the two crashes, in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, have been calling for Boeing to face charges for breaking its pledges to reform. They have accused the US authorities of giving Boeing an easy ride and in June demanded a fresh fine of nearly £20bn.
Under the proposed agreement, Boeing must invest over the next three years in improving safety and compliance, while working with an independent compliance monitor over the same period.
The criminal conviction could also impact Boeing’s ability to win US defence contracts, a major part of its business.
It will ensure there is no criminal trial, which would have brought greater public scrutiny over the firm’s actions in the lead up to the fatal crashes.
In a seperate court filing on Sunday, lawyers acting on behalf of the families said they planned to request a judge reject the deal because it “unfairly makes concessions to Boeing that other criminal defendants would never receive and fails to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths of 346 persons.”
Boeing have been approached for comment.
The news comes following fresh crisis in January sparked by the mid-air blowout of a 737 Max-9 emergency exit door on an Alaska Airlines flight.
The incident has brought Boeing’s safety record back into the spotlight and prompted a seperate investigation from the DoJ and regulators.
Shares are down over 26 per cent this year to date.