Boeing Criminal Case Dismissed in $1.1B Settlement 737 Max Crashes

A federal judge in Texas on Thursday dismissed a criminal conspiracy charge against Boeing related to two 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people, approving a Justice Department request to end the case as part of a settlement that requires the company to pay or invest an additional $1.1 billion. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor signed off on the agreement after a September hearing in which relatives of many victims urged him to reject the deal and send the matter to trial.

Under the settlement, the $1.1 billion will be used for fines, compensation for families of crash victims and mandated improvements to Boeing's internal safety and quality controls, officials said. The Justice Department said the agreement better serves the public interest than taking the case to trial, where an uncertain jury verdict could have resulted in lesser penalties. The department also noted that the families of 110 victims either supported the settlement or did not oppose it; nearly 100 other families voiced opposition at the hearing.

The prosecutions stem from the October 2018 crash off the coast of Indonesia of a Lion Air 737 Max 8 and the March 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, both of...