A federal judge on Thursday rejected a proposed plea deal that would have allowed Boeing to plead guilty and pay a fine for two fatal 737 Max crashes, thrusting the airline giant back into uncertain legal territory.
Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas specifically rejected provisions of the proposed agreement that would require the parties to consider race when hiring the independent monitor and said the agreement boxes out the court in the appointment and oversight of the monitor.
“These provisions are inappropriate and against the public interest,” O’Connor wrote.
He gave Boeing and the Justice Department (DOJ) 30 days to present a new plan for how to proceed.
The decision is a setback for Boeing, which has weathered intense scrutiny since the door of a 737 Max 9 flew off during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Federal prosecutors charged Boeing in 2021 with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and accused the company of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about issues with its Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System software, which played a role in both crashes.
The DOJ and Boeing finalized the agreement in July in which the corporation would plead guilty to fraud and pay a $250 million fine for misleading regulators ahead of two fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
The families of some of the 346 victims have called for the rejection of the “sweetheart” deal, saying it would fail to hold Boeing accountable for the loss of their loved ones.
Neither DOJ nor Boeing immediately responded to requests for comment.
