A US judge in Texas late Thursday rejected a legal bid from families of the victims of two Boeing 737 MAX crashes to reopen or reject a January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.
Boeing won immunity from criminal charges as part by the Justice Department $2.5 billion deal on a 737 MAX fraud conspiracy related to the plane’s flawed design.
TThe families had asked the court to strip Boeing of immunity from prosecution, strike down, review or oversee the agreement, and order disclosure of information about Boeing’s conduct.
Related: Boeing pays $2.5 billion to settle with Justice Department over 737 MAX crashes | Families of victims of crash want Boeing 737 settlement to be reopened
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that he had no legal authority to grant the family members’ requests despite what he called “Boeing’s blatant criminal conduct.”
OConnor ruled in October that the 346 people who died in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 are legally “crime victims” and said the Justice Department had failed to comply with its legal obligations.
O’Connor ordered Boeing to be charged with felony fraud conspiracy in 2021. Boeing, who pleaded not guilty last month and had argued against reopening the plea deal, did not immediately comment. Boeing says it has fully complied with the agreement and made significant reforms.
“This court has immense compassion for the victims and loved ones of those who died in the tragic plane crashes resulting from the Boeing criminal conspiracy,” he said in his ruling. “If Congress had given this court sweeping authority to ensure that justice is done in a case like this, it would not hesitate.”
But O’Connor said he did not have the legal resources “to repair the incalculable damage suffered by the victims’ representatives”.
Boeing’s best-selling 737 MAX was grounded worldwide for 20 months in March 2019 after two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia — a move that cost Boeing more than $20 billion.
“Boeing’s crime can rightly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,” O’Connor wrote.
The Justice Department’s settlement included a $243.6 million fine, $1.77 billion in airline damages, and a $500 million fund for crash victims.
O’Connor also on Thursday rejected requests from Poland’s flag carrier PLL LOT and Czech airline group Smartwings to consider them both victims in the Boeing 737 MAX criminal case, a move that could have made them eligible for compensation.
Both airlines sued Boeing separately, arguing that they should have received compensation from Boeing as part of the plea deal, as other airlines did. Those lawsuits in Seattle are pending.
In September, Boeing paid $200 million to settle civil charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors about the safety of the 737 MAX.
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