The US Department of Justice is to present a settlement agreement for Boeing, where the aircraft giant acknowledges guilt after two fatal plane crashes, according to sources with insight.
Relatives are outraged over the news and want the matter to be taken to court.
According to consistent American media reports, the Department of Justice has informed relatives of the 346 people who died in two plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia that they will proceed with the agreement.
Such an agreement includes, among other things, fines, acknowledgment of crimes against fraud laws, and the appointment of a so-called "overseer", an independent observer who ensures that the company follows the rules.
"We are outraged"
Boeing has until the end of the week, Sunday July 7, to respond. If they say no, the department will take Boeing to court.
Relatives are said to have reacted with anger.
We are outraged. They should just go ahead with the prosecution instead, says Nadia Milleron, whose daughter died in one of the accidents, to AP.
The background is an agreement concluded between Boeing and the Department of Justice in 2021, which protected Boeing from being taken to court for the crashes as long as the company, among other things, followed certain regulations and paid substantial fines. About a month ago, the department announced that Boeing had breached the agreement and could therefore be prosecuted for the charges brought forward three years ago.
Boeing's status threatened
The bad news has followed each other for Boeing since January, when a plane of the Boeing Air Max 9 model was forced to make an emergency landing after a door plug came loose during the flight.
Boeing's stock value has since plummeted by over 30 percent.
Experts have warned that a guilty verdict in this case could have consequences for Boeing's status as a major supplier to, among others, the US military.
