FORT WORTH — In an unusual proceeding for a corporation accused of a crime, Boeing officials were arraigned Thursday in a federal courtroom in Fort Worth for the company’s actions leading to two plane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 passengers and crew.
Boeing was charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government for allegedly skirting safety rules when introducing its 737 MAX jets. The arraignment before U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor took place two years after the company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice which paused prosecution of the criminal case before the company ever formally entered a plea on the charges.
The agreement is being challenged by the victims’ families, who say they weren’t involved in the negotiation process. O’Connor ruled last fall that the crash victims’ families deserved to be heard in court.
