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A federal judge ruled in favor of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, dismissing felony charges against aircraft giant Boeing in relation to two commercial plane crashes that claimed the lives of 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
Judge Reed O’Connor accepted the DOJ's motion to dismiss in the Northern District of Texas.
Boeing, which previously agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, made a deal with the Trump administration in May in return for the charges — tied to the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 — being dropped.
O’Connor, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, said that despite some victims' families' opposition, the government did not act with bad faith, provided conclusory reasons for its dismissal, and satisfied its obligations under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, Politico reported.
The non-prosecution agreement requires Boeing to pay more than $1.1 billion in fines, more than $455 million to strengthen the company’s compliance, safety and quality programs, and an additional $445 million for the crash victims’ families, a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
"On top of the financial investments, Boeing must continue to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program and retain an independent compliance consultant," the spokesperson wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital.
O'Connor noted it disregards the need for the company to be monitored by an unbiased consultant, as Boeing can choose who it hires, and said he understood families may be disappointed the agreement "fails to secure the necessary accountability to ensure the safety of the flying public," according to the report.
Tracy Brammeier, partner of Clifford Law Offices who serves on the plaintiff's team, said there would be a quick appeal of O'Connor's Thursday ruling.
"The judge recognizes there is a miscarriage of justice on the part of the government's decision not to prosecute the case, and that this was not in the best interest of the public, which the government serves," Brammeier wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Unfortunately, he feels the power to right this wrong is limited by legal precedent. The families are disappointed by the outcome but will act quickly to protect the interests of the families and the public on appeal."
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People work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
Three cases involving families of victims in the 2019 crash were settled Wednesday after jury selection, including a case on behalf of a 28-year-old mother from Kenya who left behind a daughter and her parents, Clifford Law Offices wrote in a news release.
The other two cases that settled were that of a 38-year-old father of seven from Yemen and Kenya, and a 30-year-old father of three from the UK and Kenya, who left behind a pregnant wife, according to Clifford Law Offices.
Flight ET-302 crashed in March 2019 shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia, heading to Kenya and killing all 157 on board.
According to the attorneys, nearly a dozen cases related to the two crashes remain unresolved.
A Boeing 737 MAX jet lands in Seattle after a test flight to evaluate Boeing's proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the MAX, a system that activated erroneously on two flights that crashed, killing 346 people. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital "victims are at the heart of the Department’s mission" and the Boeing case is no exception.
"Rather than allow for protracted litigation, this agreement provides finality for the victims and requires Boeing to act now," the spokesperson wrote in a statement. "As the Court recognized, the Department in good faith complied with its statutory obligations and met extensively with the crash victims’ families. While they are all experiencing grief, and nothing will diminish their losses, the victims have expressed a broad set of views regarding the resolution, ranging from support to disagreement. Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and Department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome."
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A Boeing spokesperson told Fox News Digital the company is "committed to honoring the obligations of our agreement with the Department of Justice … [and] to continuing the significant efforts we have made as a company to strengthen our safety, quality, and compliance programs."
Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.
She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.
