Crash Victims’ Families Argue Against Boeing Non-Prosecution Deal

Federal judge weighs objections to agreement that would end criminal case.

Zach Vasile

Friday, September 05, 2025 at 07:00 AM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 sits in the maintenance area. [ AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson]

Key Takeaways:

A federal judge in Texas heard strong objections from relatives of the 346 victims of two Boeing 737 Max crashes against a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) non-prosecution deal with Boeing.
Victims' families, many having traveled internationally, urged the judge to reject the deal and send the case to trial, asserting they have not received justice for the crashes.
The judge questioned the government's decision not to require an independent monitor for Boeing as part of the deal, which otherwise involves Boeing admitting to obstructing an FAA investigation, paying $1.1 billion in penalties and compensation, and investing in safety.

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A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday heard objections to a deal between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing that would allow the aircraft manufacturer to avoid prosecution in connection with the crash of two 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people.

According to Reuters, Judge Reed O’Connor listened to hours of testimony from around two dozen relatives of passengers who died in the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. Some traveled from as far away as Africa, Indonesia, and Europe to argue against the non-prosecution agreement (NPA).