Families of victims who died in one of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes met with Justice Department officials Wednesday about the looming decision whether to pursue or drop charges against the company.
The fatal Boeing crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 left 346 people dead. Family members of victims of the 2019 crash in Ethiopia met with prosecutors in Washington DC on Wednesday.
The first accident, which occurred on October 29, 2018, in Jakarta, Indonesia, killed all 189 passengers and crew members.
The second accident, on March 10, 2019, occurred in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when a Boeing plane crashed minutes after takeoff and killed 157 people on board.
In this July 20, 2022 file photo, a Boeing 737 Max is displayed during an exhibition at the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, England.
Peter Cziborra/Reuters, FILE
Both accidents preceded the Alaska Airlines incident earlier this year, when a door plug fell from the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max 9, a newer model, after departure.
After a five-hour meeting Wednesday, lawyers for the families of some of the victims said they had received no additional information about whether the Justice Department would decide to drop charges against Boeing after the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) concluded with the company.
Lawyers for the families also said they had not been given specific information about how prosecutors were investigating the Alaska Airlines explosion.
In 2021, the DOJ charged Boeing with “conspiracy to defraud the United States,” after a lengthy investigation that found the company knowingly misled regulators as it sought approval for its 737 MAX plane .
Boeing reached a deferred prosecution agreement worth $2.5 billion, including a $243 million criminal fine, $500 million for relatives who lost a loved one and $1.77 billion for global airlines affected by MAX grounding.
The government has until July 7 to decide whether it wants to close the criminal case, extend the deal or press charges.
Attorney Paul G. Cassell told reporters Wednesday: “The meetings with the Justice Department were what we feared — all for show and no substance.”
“It is clear that they only want to push through the rigged deferred prosecution agreement they negotiated with Boeing, without the involvement of the very families whose lives were shattered by Boeing’s fraud and misconduct. the company,” Cassell said.
“We will explore every avenue possible to continue our challenge to the DPA and ensure that Boeing is truly held accountable,” he said.
Cassell told ABC News that if the DOJ dropped the charges against Boeing, it would “aggressively fight Boeing in the Northern District of Texas and any other court if necessary.”
“Remember, Boeing has already admitted to and committed a crime and charges have been filed in Texas,” Cassell said. “We just want this case to move forward and let the jury decide whether Boeing is a criminal or not.”
Boeing declined ABC News’ request for comment.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, who announced he would resign at the end of the year, said after the January incident: “Whatever the final conclusions, Boeing is responsible for what happened . An event like this should not happen on a plane taking off. our factory.”
Wednesday’s meeting comes the same day Boeing announced it lost $355 million due to a drop in first-quarter revenue, signaling new strains on the aerospace company.
ABC News’ James Hill contributed to this report.
ABC News
