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US prosecutors have recommended that the Department of Justice (DoJ) brings criminal charges against Boeing.<\/p>\n
It follows a claim by the DoJ that the plane maker had violated a settlement related to two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft which killed 346 people.<\/p>\n
Boeing declined to comment when contacted by the BBC but previously it has denied violating the deferred prosecution agreement.<\/p>\n
The DoJ has until 7 July to make a final decision on whether to prosecute the company. The DoJ has declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The recommendation is not a final decision and the details of any potential criminal action are not known, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.<\/p>\n
“This is a really critical decision that is coming up,\u201d said Ed Pierson, who is the executive director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety and a former senior manager at Boeing.<\/p>\n
He told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme: “There are issues with these aeroplanes. We\u2019re seeing problems with these planes and I\u2019m talking about 737 Max, 787 and it is reflective of the leadership.”<\/p>\n
The plane crashes – both involving Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft – occurred within six months of each other.<\/p>\n
The crash involving Indonesia’s Lion Air occurred in October 2018, following by an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019.<\/p>\n
Last week, relatives of the victims urged prosecutors to seek a fine against Boeing of $25bn (\u00a314.6bn) and to pursue a criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n
Under a deal reached in 2021, Boeing said it would pay a $2.5bn settlement and prosecutors agreed to ask the court to drop a criminal charge after three years if the company abided by certain stipulations set out in the deferred prosecution agreement.<\/p>\n
But last month, the DoJ said Boeing was in breach of the deal, stating that it had failed to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the US fraud laws throughout its operations”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Last week, Boeing’s outgoing chief executive Dave Calhoun faced a grilling from US senators.<\/a><\/p>\n Mr Calhoun testified that the company had “learned” from past mistakes and that the process for employee whistleblowers “works” – but lawmakers still accused him of not doing enough to rectify a culture of retaliation.<\/p>\n As part of an ongoing investigation, Boeing whistleblowers told the Senate in April that the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 models had serious production issues.<\/p>\n