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 heard strong objections from relatives of the 346 victims of two Boeing 737 Max crashes against a non-prosecution deal between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing.
Victims' families traveled internationally to argue that the deal denies them justice and allows Boeing to "buy its freedom," urging the judge to send the case to trial.
The judge specifically questioned the Justice Department's decision not to require an independent monitor for Boeing as part of the agreement, though he did not rule on its legality.
The contested deal requires Boeing to admit to obstructing an FAA investigation, pay $1.1 billion in penalties and victim compensation, and invest in safety improvements.

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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).