May 23, 2025, (c) Leeham News: The US Department of Justice and Boeing okayed the framework of a Non-Prosecution Agreement to finally resolve the litigation dating to the 2018/19 737 MAX accidents and the Jan. 5, 2024, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 accident. The notice was filed today in the federal court of the Northern District of Texas.
Boeing agrees to pay a total of $1.1bn in fines, compensation and investments. Some of this was previously paid with a Deferred Prosecution Agreement reached in 2021; and some was agreed in a second DPA reached last December. The first DPA was essentially voided following the Flight 1282 accident and the second was rejected on procedural grounds by the judge in the Texas federal court.
The notice may be downloaded here: NPA Notice 5-23-25.
The full agreement should be filed next week, the DOJ said.
Family reaction
The DOJ said many families of the victims of the 2018 and 2019 crashes support the NPA. However, a law firm representing some families said they do not agree.
“Families who lost loved ones reacted with tremendous grief and even anger at the sudden turnaround in allowing Boeing to withdraw from its earlier guilty plea in a criminal fraud case announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) late today,” Clifford Law said in a press release. “The DOJ said it does not intend to proceed with a criminal fraud trial against Boeing regarding two crashes of the 737 MAX8 aircraft six years ago killing 346 people. Many family members have repeatedly said that the DOJ is not working in the public interest in this matter.”
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