The U.S. Justice Department plans to meet with the families of the victims of two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people as the government decides whether to move ahead with a criminal case, relatives of the victims said. Boeing won immunity from criminal prosecution as part of the $2.5 billion Justice Department agreement struck in 2021 over a 737 MAX fraud conspiracy charge related to the plane's flawed design. Boeing had to abide by the terms of the agreement for a three-year period that ended on Jan. 7. The Justice Department is deciding whether the Jan. 5, 2024, Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 mid-air emergency and Boeing's conduct breached the agreement, which could allow the Justice Department to move forward with a criminal case against the company, Reuters reports. The Justice Department has until July 7 to make a decision.
The department is holding a meeting with relatives on April 24, said Michael Stumo, whose daughter was killed in the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 crash. "They were bludgeoned into recognizing us as victims," Stumo said, who was invited and plans to attend the meeting. The Justice Department updated its guidelines in 2022 for notifying victims of potential crimes after the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019. The relatives said their legal rights had been violated after the government had failed to meet with crash victims' relatives before the department struck the Boeing plea deal. Attorney General Merrick Garland met with family members in January 2022 and the department apologized after the department's own victims' rights ombudsman in 2020 "conveyed inaccurate information" to representatives of the families. The Justice Department said in 2021 "misleading statements, half-truths, and omissions communicated by Boeing employees to the FAA impeded the government’s ability to ensure the safety of the flying public."
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