Families seek $40 billion from Boeing after 737 Max crashes

Family members of victims from the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash hold photographs during a vigil outside the Department of Transportation in Washington in 2019. Photo / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Families of some people who died in two Boeing 737 Max crashes are asking US federal officials to fine Boeing $24.8 billion (NZ$39.6b) and prosecute the company on a criminal charge that was set aside three years ago.

A lawyer for the families said in a letter to the US Department of Justice that a large fine was justified “because Boeing’s crime is the deadliest corporate crime in US history”.

The lawyer, Paul Cassell, also said the US government should prosecute officials who were leading Boeing at the time of the crashes in 2018 and 2019, including then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg.

“While the families have been able to calculate losses based on public record information, the department no doubt possesses substantial information in its files that would corroborate - and perhaps even increase - the losses calculated,” the letter says.

“That staggering loss should be reflected in the sentence in this case - including in the fine.

“Indeed, it would almost be morally reprehensible if the criminal justice system was incapable of capturing the enormous human costs.”

In all, 346 people were killed in the crashes.

The first occurred when a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea in October 2018 - and the second in March 2019, when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed nearly straight down into a field six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa.

The push by the families comes as the Department of Justice (DoJ) considers whether to revive a dormant criminal charge of fraud against Boeing.

Last month, prosecutors determined that the company violated a 2021 settlement that protected the company from being prosecuted for allegedly misleading regulators who approved the Max.

The DoJ has until July 7 to tell a federal judge in Texas whether it will revive the case.

During a hearing this week, Senator Richard Blumenthal said there was “mounting evidence” the company should be prosecuted. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company has previously said it met its obligations under the 2021 settlement.

The DoJ opened an investigation into Boeing after a door plug blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

That incident led to increased scrutiny of the company and outgoing CEO David Calhoun, who defended Boeing’s safety record during the Senate hearing this week.

Calhoun sat at the witness table and fidgeted with his eyeglasses as Blumenthal spoke.

Senator Ron Johnson thanked the CEO for coming to face “tough questions”.

Before giving his prepared opening statement, Calhoun stood and faced the people in the audience holding poster-sized photos of some of the 346 people who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes.

“I apologise for the grief that we have caused,” he said.

-AP, NZ Herald staff reporter