Appeals Court Denies Revival of Boeing 737 Max Case

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously denied on Tuesday a request by dozens of families who lost relatives in two deadly Boeing 737 Max crashes to revive a dismissed criminal case against the aircraft manufacturer. The ruling upholds a Justice Department agreement that allowed Boeing to avoid prosecution on a fraud charge related to the 2018 and 2019 incidents, which claimed 346 lives.

The families, represented by lawyers including Paul Cassell, contended that federal prosecutors violated their rights under the Crime Victims Rights Act by failing to adequately consult them before finalizing the deal last year. That agreement led U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas to dismiss a criminal conspiracy charge in November, stemming from allegations that Boeing defrauded regulators by withholding information about a key flight-control system implicated in the crashes.

The crashes occurred within five months of each other. In October 2018, a Lion Air 737 Max plunged into the Java Sea off Indonesia shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 aboard. Five months later, in March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed into a field near Addis Ababa,...