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Boeing to Plead Guilty to Criminal Fraud Conspiracy Over 737 Max Crashes
Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the US found the company violated a deal meant to reform it after two fatal crashes by its 737 Max planes that killed 346 passengers and crew.
Settlement Sparks Outrage from Victims’ Families
The Department of Justice (DoJ) said the plane-maker had also agreed to pay a criminal fine of $243.6 million (£190 million). However, the families of the people who died on the flights five years ago have criticized it as a “sweetheart deal” that would allow Boeing to avoid full responsibility for the deaths. One called it an “atrocious abomination.”
Avoiding a Criminal Trial
The settlement must now be approved by a US judge. By pleading guilty, Boeing will avoid the spectacle of a criminal trial—something that victims’ families have been pressing for. The company has been in crisis over its safety record since two near-identical crashes involving 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019. It led to the global grounding of the plane for more than a year.
Allegations of Deception
In 2021, prosecutors charged Boeing with one count of conspiracy to defraud regulators, alleging it had deceived the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about its MCAS flight control system, which was implicated in both crashes. It agreed not to prosecute Boeing if the company paid a penalty and successfully completed a three-year period of increased monitoring and reporting.
Renewed Scrutiny After Incident
But in January, shortly before that period was due to end, a door panel in a Boeing plane operated by Alaska Airlines blew out soon after take-off and forced the jet to land. No one was injured during the incident, but it intensified scrutiny over how much progress Boeing had made on improving its safety and quality record.
DOJ’s Findings
In May, the DoJ said it had found Boeing had violated the terms of the agreement, opening up the possibility of prosecution. Boeing’s decision to plead guilty is still a significant black mark for the firm because it means that the company—which is a prominent military contractor for the US government—now has a criminal record. It is also one of the world’s two biggest manufacturers of commercial jets.
Potential Impact on Contracting Business
It is not immediately clear how the criminal record will affect the firm’s contracting business. The government typically bars or suspends firms with records from participating in bids but can grant waivers.
Criticism from Legal and Safety Advocates
Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing some families of people killed on the 2018 and 2019 flights, said, “This sweetheart deal fails to recognize that because of Boeing’s conspiracy, 346 people died.” In a letter to the government in June, Mr. Cassell had urged the DoJ to fine Boeing more than $24 billion. Zipporah Kuria, who lost her father Joseph in one of the fatal crashes, said the plea was an “atrocious abomination.”
A Call for Accountability
“Miscarriage of justice is a gross understatement in describing this,” she said. “I hope that, God forbid, if this happens again, the DoJ is reminded that it had the opportunity to do something meaningful and instead chose not to.” Ed Pierson, executive director of Foundation for Aviation Safety and a former senior manager at Boeing, said the plea was “seriously disappointing” and “a terrible deal for justice.”
Background of the Crashes
A Boeing 737 Max plane operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed in late October 2018 shortly after take-off, killing all 189 people on board. Just months later, an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed, killing all 157 passengers and crew. In the 2021 deal, Boeing also agreed to pay $2.5 billion to resolve the matter, including a $243 million criminal penalty and $500 million to a victims’ fund. The deal outraged family members, who were not consulted on the terms and have called for the company to stand trial.
Ongoing Investigations and Lawsuits
Mark Forkner, a former Boeing technical pilot who was the only person to face criminal charges arising from the incident, was acquitted by a jury in 2022. His lawyers had argued he was being used as a scapegoat. The issues with MCAS were not Boeing’s first brush with the law. It has also paid millions in penalties to the Federal Aviation Administration since 2015 to resolve a series of claims of improper manufacturing and other issues. The company also continues to face investigations and lawsuits sparked by the incident on the January Alaska Airlines flight.
Ukraine has confirmed an agreement with the United States on a minerals deal, calling it a “positive outcome” with “good amendments,” though officials have yet to disclose further details.
Media reports suggest that Washington has dropped an initial demand for a $500 billion share in potential revenue from Ukraine’s natural resources. However, the deal does not appear to include the firm security guarantees that Kyiv had sought.
US President Donald Trump announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington this week to finalize the agreement. The development follows a series of tense exchanges between the two leaders.
While Trump did not explicitly confirm the deal’s finalization, he stated that in return, Ukraine would get “the right to fight on.” Acknowledging Ukraine’s resilience, he added, “Without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time.”
When asked whether US military support for Ukraine would continue, Trump indicated that assistance might persist “until we have a deal with Russia,” stressing the need for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict. He also suggested that any future peace deal would require “some form of peacekeeping” acceptable to all parties involved.
Ukraine possesses vast deposits of critical minerals such as lithium and titanium, alongside substantial reserves of coal, gas, oil, and uranium—resources valued in the billions. Trump has framed the agreement as one that will allow the US to recoup more than it has spent on supporting Ukraine. However, final details of the deal reportedly remain under negotiation.
Two Australian nurses have been suspended after a video surfaced showing them making violent antisemitic remarks, including threats to harm Israeli patients. The incident, which allegedly took place at a hospital in Sydney, has sparked outrage and is now under police investigation.
New South Wales (NSW) Health Minister Ryan Park confirmed that the two individuals had been stood down immediately and would never work in the state’s healthcare system again. Authorities are conducting a thorough review of hospital records to ensure no patients were harmed, though a rapid preliminary check found nothing unusual.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the video as “sickening and shameful,” emphasizing that antisemitism has no place in Australia. His comments come just days after the country passed stricter hate crime laws in response to a surge in antisemitic incidents.
The video, shared online by Israeli content creator Max Veifer, appears to have been recorded in a hospital setting. In the footage, a man claiming to be a doctor tells Veifer he has “beautiful eyes” but adds, “I’m sorry you’re Israeli,” before making a throat-slitting gesture and stating he sends Israelis to “Jahannam” (an Islamic concept of hell). A woman later appears on screen, saying she refuses to treat Israelis and will “kill them” instead.
Despite the video being edited with emojis and censoring certain comments, authorities have not questioned its authenticity. NSW Police stated they have identified the individuals involved and are investigating whether criminal charges should be pursued.
Albanese vowed that anyone found guilty of committing hate crimes will “face the full force of our laws.” Park echoed this sentiment, apologizing to the Jewish community and reassuring them that NSW hospitals remain committed to providing “first-class” healthcare to all patients, regardless of background.
Coca-Cola has warned that it may have to increase the use of plastic bottles in the U.S. if President Donald Trump’s new tariffs make aluminium cans too expensive. The announcement was made by Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey during a call with investors.
Trump’s recent order imposes a 25% import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the U.S., a move expected to raise costs for canned food and beverage manufacturers. Quincey acknowledged that Coca-Cola could shift more emphasis to PET plastic bottles to manage affordability.
“If aluminium cans become more expensive, we can put more emphasis on PET bottles,” he said, while noting that packaging costs are only a small fraction of the company’s overall expenses.
This shift comes shortly after Coca-Cola scaled back its sustainability goal of using 50% recycled materials in its packaging by 2030, adjusting the target to 35-40% by 2035. The beverage giant has been under pressure from environmental groups, which have labeled it the world’s “top global plastic polluter” for six years in a row.
Aluminium cans, despite being pricier, are far more recyclable than plastic bottles. The U.S. imports nearly half of its aluminium, according to the United States Geological Survey, making the tariffs a significant factor in production costs. Unlike in 2018, when some can-makers received exemptions from similar tariffs, Trump has now ruled out any exceptions for products or countries.
In a separate move, Trump also signed an executive order rolling back efforts to replace plastic straws with paper alternatives in government facilities—undoing a policy introduced by former President Joe Biden, who had called plastic pollution a “crisis.”
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