Families of the victims of the two Boeing 737 Max crashes are urging federal officials to impose a hefty fine of $24.8 billion on Boeing and expedite the prosecution of the company on a criminal charge that was deferred three years ago. The families' attorney emphasized in a letter to the Justice Department that such a substantial fine is warranted as Boeing's actions constitute what is deemed as the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history.
The attorney further recommended that the government pursue legal action against the executives who were in charge of Boeing at the time of the tragic crashes in 2018 and 2019, including the then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg. The crashes claimed the lives of 346 individuals, with the first incident involving an Indonesia Lion Air-operated Boeing 737 Max 8 crashing into the Java Sea in October 2018, followed by the second crash in March 2019 when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 plummeted into a field shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa.
