The United States Department of Justice is scrutinizing the midair blowout on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX9, which could expose manufacturer Boeing to potential criminal prosecution.
If prosecutors find that blowout of the door plug constitutes a breach of that deferred prosecution agreement, then Boeing could face Criminal Liability.
Boeing shares fell after Bloomberg reported on the DOJ’s actions late Wednesday, and were down 0.6% in premarket US trading. Boeing has lost over 21% of its market value this year, the worst performing index on the Dow Jones Average, after the Alaska Air mishap.
Under the terms of the $2.5 billion settlement after the ET302 and Lion Air crashes, Boeing had adopted a compliance program and cooperate with the government for a period of three years, after which the charges would be dismissed. The latest Alaska Air accident took place on Jan. 5 - just two days before the "deferred-prosecution agreement" was to expire.
The DOJ has six months to determine whether Boeing met the conditions of that deal and will needs to seek court approval to dismiss the matter.
The DOJ review is being handled by the fraud section along with the US attorney’s office in Seattle, which is near the Boeing Renton plant where the 737 MAX final assembly takes place.
Boeing has faced heightened scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and customers after a fuselage panel covering an unused door flew off while an Alaska Air Boeing 737 Max 9 was airborne. All 171 passengers and six crew escaped without serious injury. Investigators later determined the jet was delivered without four bolts needed to lock the door plug in place.
The FAA issued an ultimatum to Boeing earlier Wednesday over the near catastrophic accident, giving the US plane manufacturer 90 days to devise a plan to fix what it called “systemic” quality-control issues. The deadline follows a blunt report mandated by Congress assessing shortfalls in Boeing’s safety culture. The report found that steps the planemaker had taken to bolster safety following the 737 Max crashes weren’t working as intended.
Boeing faces criminal charges for misleading US regulators who certified the 737 MAX design. The settlement focused on the actions of 2 ex-Boeing employees involved in drafting pilot manuals. Mark Forkner, was charged with lying to the FAA if upgrades made to the 737 Max over the previous 737NG model would require airline customers to give their pilots additional training. Following a 3-day trial, during which the defense claimed their client was being *scapegoated* by Boeing, Forkner was eventually acquitted.
Aviation accident investigations rarely lead to criminal charges in the US. The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency within the Transportation Department, holds primary responsibility for investigating accidents and lacks the power to levy charges. Criminal authorities such as the DOJ get involved only when there is conclusive evidence of an intentional act.
A criminal probe has the potential to derail or delay the NTSB’s probe of the door plug incident. There have been multiple instances in recent decades that parallel criminal probes into transportation accidents resulted in roadblocks to the NTSB’s work. The NTSB’s mission to gather facts in the hope of preventing future accidents also depends to a large degree on the cooperation of witnesses, who could be less forthcoming if involved in a criminal investigation.
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