US prosecutors may drop a criminal charge against the aerospace giant Boeing, linked to two crashes involving its bestselling aircraft, the 737 Max.
In an online meeting with relatives of those who died in the two accidents, officials for the Department of Justice (DOJ) said they were considering allowing the company to sign a non-prosecution agreement to settle the case.
The move would avoid a trial over the criminal fraud charge that is due to begin in June, after a judge rejected an earlier settlement in which Boeing had agreed to plead guilty.
Lawyers representing families of the crash victims said they were “deeply disappointed” by the new plan.
“While DOJ claims no final decision has been made, their scripted presentation made it clear that the outcome has already been decided,” said Erin Applebaum, a partner at Kreindler and Kreindler, which represents 34 families of those killed in the Ethiopian crash.
“Boeing has never stood trial for the 346 lives lost due to its admitted crimes. Now, DOJ is prepared to let the company walk away, again, with no more than a financial penalty,” she added.
Boeing currently faces a criminal fraud conspiracy charge, brought in the aftermath of two major 737 Max accidents in late 2018 off Indonesia and in Ethiopia in early 2019.
The crashes, which killed 346 people, were blamed on a poorly designed piece of flight control software, which the pilots were not aware had been fitted to the aircraft.
The Department of Justice subsequently accused Boeing of deliberately concealing vital information about the system from regulators, charging the firm with fraud.
The firm admitted to the allegations but initially avoided prosecution by paying $2.5bn in fines and compensation and pledging to improve safety standards and compliance programmes.
The case was reopened last year, after an incident in which an unused door fell off a 737 Max early in flight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft. The DOJ accused Boeing of having breached the terms of the original settlement.
Last year, during the Biden administration, a new deal was reached with prosecutors under which Boeing would plead guilty to the fraud charge, pay a further fine of $243m and agree to a court-appointed monitor overseeing its operations for a set period.
But the agreement was rejected in December by a US district court judge overseeing the case, due in part to concerns over how the monitor would be selected.
The ruling meant the case would extend into the Trump administration, which has promised to take a lighter regulatory approach.
It is understood that Boeing has since sought to withdraw its guilty plea.
Boeing declined to comment on Friday. The Department of Justice did not respond.
A non-prosecution agreement would not involve admitting to criminal charges. That would spare Boeing from a criminal record, a black mark that would complicate its dealings as a contractor for the government.
The case is currently due to go to trial on 23 June.
