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A federal judge has set a trial date for Boeing, potentially forcing the corporate to defend itself in court against a criminal charge referring to two fatal 737 Max crashes.
The choice by Reed O’Connor, a US district judge in Texas, to set a trial date marks a victory for families of people that died after two Boeing planes crashed and called for the corporate to reply for the accidents in court.
The judge’s intervention also marks one other twist in a legal saga that has dogged the manufacturer for the reason that flawed design in its planes caused the crashes, which killed a whole bunch of individuals.
O’Connor set June 23 as the beginning date to try Boeing on a single felony count of fraud. The corporate pleaded guilty in July, however the judge threw out the plea in December after objecting to provisions tied to diversity, equity and inclusion, in addition to the deal’s power to “erroneously marginalise” the court’s own authority in choosing an independent monitor to oversee Boeing.
Boeing and the US justice department were negotiating recent terms but had until April 11 to update the court on their progress. O’Connor’s decision to set a date comes a day after The Wall Street Journal reported Boeing was attempting to withdraw its guilty plea.
Boeing said it was continuing to interact in “good faith” discussions with the Department of Justice “regarding an appropriate resolution of this matter”.
The DoJ didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on the trial date.
The criminal charge stems from crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people and prompted regulators worldwide to ground the jet for nearly two years.
Boeing paid $2.5bn in 2021 to defer prosecution on a single count of fraud — a deferral that collapsed when prosecutors decided to bring a case after a door panel blew off a Boeing jet during a industrial flight in January 2024.
Though the corporate pleaded guilty in July, families of the victims of the crashes objected to the deal, saying it was too generous.
Erin Applebaum, considered one of the lawyers representing the families within the second crash, said they deserved their day in court.
“For six years, the families of Boeing’s victims have waited for the justice system to carry Boeing accountable,” she said. “Judge O’Connor has now set a trial date, with Boeing’s ongoing refusal to alter its behaviour appearing to have been the ultimate straw. We urge the Department of Justice to face on the appropriate side of history, reject any further plea negotiations, and move forward with a full prosecution.”
