737 MAX crash: accused of fraud, Boeing to pay $ 2.5 billion
A Boeing 737 MAX in the landing phase.
GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP / File
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Boeing, officially accused on Thursday of misleading authorities during the 737 MAX approval process, admitted responsibility and agreed to pay more than $ 2.5 billion to settle certain lawsuits.
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This resolution allows the manufacturer to dispel a little more the clouds that have gathered on its star aircraft after two accidents that killed 346 people.
Grounded for twenty months, it was only re-authorized to fly in certain countries at the end of 2020.
The aeronautics giant has agreed to pay the United States a criminal fine of 243.6 million, as well as 1.77 billion in compensation to the airlines that ordered the 737 MAX and 500 million for a fund intended to compensate relatives of the victims of the accidents of Lion Air in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019.
"
Boeing employees preferred profit to franchise by hiding
important information about the use of their 737 MAX aircraft
from the FAA
(United States Aviation Authority)
and trying to cover up their deception,
" Justice Department official David Burns denounced in a statement.
The deal between the authorities and the company makes it possible to "
hold Boeing accountable for the criminal misconduct of its employees, addresses the problem of the financial impact on Boeing's airline customers and, hopefully, will provide some form of compensation to the families and relatives of the victims of the accident,
”he added.
Boeing, the statement said, admitted that two of its employees had misled a group within the FAA to prepare pilot training for the aircraft about the MCAS flight software, implicated in the two accidents. .
The documents subsequently issued by the Aviation Agency therefore did not contain essential information about this software, which was therefore not included in the pilot manuals and training documents.
Under the terms of the deal, which formally accuses Boeing of conspiring to commit fraud, the group has agreed to continue to cooperate with authorities on all ongoing or future investigations.
The manufacturer has also undertaken to report to the authorities any example or suspicion of fraud committed by one of its employees.
The ministry will lift the lawsuits in three years if Boeing meets all of its obligations.
(With Afp)
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