Posted on 12/04/2025 11:15:24 AM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
Families who lost loved ones in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet said on November 6, through counsel, that they intend to file an expedited writ of mandamus to appeal the decision of a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, dismissing the criminal conspiracy charge against Boeing for the crashes that killed 346 people seven years ago.
The families had argued before U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor that the Department of Justice’s proposed non-prosecution agreement violated the judicial review provisions of the federal rules by preemptively agreeing not to prosecute Boeing even before Judge O’Connor had ruled on the government’s motion to dismiss. Family members traveled from as far away as France, Ireland and Canada to ask the judge to reject the agreement for DOJ not to prosecute the aircraft manufacturer for criminal fraud.
Javier de Luis of Massachusetts, who lost his sister in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Ethiopia, reacted to Judge O’Connor’s decision: “The judge in this case agrees that Boeing cannot be trusted to put safety ahead of their own bottom line. He agrees that the DoJ motion is not in the public interest. Unfortunately, he also believes that he is powerless to do anything about it. But it is important for the public to understand these points. Boeing bought itself a get out of jail card. I pray it is not paid for by future families that will find themselves in our position, seeking justice for yet another plane full of innocent victims.“
“Judge O’Connor recognized that there are, in his words, ‘compelling’ arguments against the non-prosecution deal. But he reluctantly concluded that he was powerless to do anything about the reprehensible deal. We believe that the courts don’t have to stand silently by while an injustice is perpetrated. We will be rapidly going to the Fifth Circuit to ask it to reverse this decision, enforce the rights of the victim’s families, and deny the Government’s effort to simply drop these charges,” said Paul Cassell, pro bono, attorneys for the families and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.
Paul Njoroge from Canada who lost his entire family, his wife and three small children, said, “Judge O’Connor’s decision to grant the DOJ’s request to dismiss this case feels like the justice system turning its back on us, the victims’ families. We have only been consistent in demanding a day in court, the public against Boeing. We have not gotten that. Our pursuit for justice isn’t about vengeance—it’s about truth, transparency, and public safety. When a company’s failures cost so many lives, ending a criminal case behind closed doors erodes trust and weakens deterrence for every passenger who steps onto a plane. The families have carried unbearable loss; the very least we deserve is a transparent process and real accountability. Anything less tells the world that powerful corporations play by different rules—and that cannot be the legacy of this tragedy. We will continue to pursue avenues for the pursuit of justice in this criminal case, including an appeal.”
Chris Moore who lost his daughter Danielle, 24, in the second crash, said, “We look at the DoJ’s Agreement to not prosecute Boeing with incredulity. They are playing down the crimes carried out by Boeing that killed 346 people. They have moved the goal posts and used the rules to serve industry. It is obvious that the justice for and rights and safety for the People do not matter to this Department. The DoJ had admissions of fraud from Boeing. They determined that they broke the DPA. They even began a plea deal with Boeing that never materialized. They have not conferred with Families openly; some factions met secretly. We demand that the DoJ be transparent with us. We demand justice. Boeing failed in doing their job; FAA was asleep at the switch; the DoJ abnegated their core value of justice: knaves all three.”
“Families of multiple Lion Air victims also oppose the order and support the immediate filing of a writ by Professor Cassell,” according to Sanjiv Singh, counsel for 16 families who had joined with Cassell’s group to fight the dismissal.
Cassell had argued in the families’ opposition to the proposed dismissal that the government’s NPA with Boeing would not provide sufficient oversight of Boeing and failed to account for the fact that Boeing’s criminal behavior was found to have caused the deaths of 346 crash victims. Boeing’s CEO and its lawyers had admitted to the fraud in a guilty plea issued four years ago.
Tracy Brammeier, partner of Clifford Law Offices who serves on this trial team, said: “The judge recognizes there is a miscarriage of justice on the part of government’s decision not to prosecute this case, and that this was not in the best interest of the public the government serves. 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.”
According to counsel, Filippo Marchino of The X-Law Group, the family of Andrea Manfredi is likewise disappointed by the ruling. They will join and partake in all efforts to seek justice for their son and for the other 345 victims of the two crashes. They’re hopeful, Marchino added, that the Court of Appeals will see what is truly at stake here, and provide the district Court with the tools to further justice and hold Boeing accountable.
In January 2021, DOJ charged Boeing with conspiracy to defraud the FAA in its certification of the defective MAX 8 aircraft and reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing.
In May 2024, following the blowout of an unsecured door plug aboard an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX, DOJ found that Boeing had breached the deferred prosecution agreement by not putting in place appropriate corporate compliance and safety measures. In July 2024, DOJ and Boeing reached a deal in which Boeing was to plead guilty. The families objected to the terms as not punitive enough, and in December 2024, Judge O’Connor rejected the deal.
Rather than returning with a more stringent punishment, DOJ presented Boeing with the lesser punishment of a Non Prosecution Agreement, in which Boeing would pay a $243.6 million penalty, give $444.5 million to be divided amongst the 346 families, and make additional investments in its safety and compliance. In exchange, DOJ agreed to dismiss the criminal charge against Boeing. On November 6, Judge O’Connor approved the NPA and granted the government’s motion to dismiss. The families look forward to appealing the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
To not go after an airline where the PIC had around 500 hours and instead went for Boeing where there is way more money, bespeaks less of justice and more of greed either on the plaintiff’s part or more likely the ‘pro bono’ lawyer. Did you have all those facts regarding 737MAX crashes in the US? Were those not Boeings? What was the difference between the foreign carriers that crashed and the US and first world ones that didn’t? That’s justice.
“The spokesman for AMERICAN Airlines’ pilots union called Boeing’s insinuation that foreign pilots were to blame for the crashes involving 737 MAX jets “inexcusable” and said AA pilots made several suggestions to Boeing to fix the 737 MAX’s systems before the second plane crash.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/business/american-airlines-boeing-pilots-union
More 🇺🇸
(Just in today) Families sue UPS, Boeing after fatal Kentucky cargo plane crash
https://www.13newsnow.com/video/news/nation-world/families-sue-ups-boeing-after-fatal-kentucky-cargo-plane-crash/291-d431a8c7-9cf1-4f94-bec2-55c9ef7fda0f
With blowout probe done, lawsuits take off against Boeing, Alaska Air
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/with-blowout-probe-done-lawsuits-take-off-against-boeing-alaska-air/
👍
” I and many others want to see to what extent DEI played a role in this crap.”
While Boeing is littered with DEI hires, the MAX problem wasn’t a result of that. It was a result of Boeing desiring to get a new airplane out the door quickly and cheated all known rules to do it.
“When the same happened here, the pilots turned the switch off. “
You obviously do not know the whole story.
In general, I would prefer to have aviators flying a plane rather than pilots. There are too many things that can go wrong. Captain Sullenberger is the high example. And, obviously, pilots’ unions will object.
I thought the undying worship of authorities was a Leftist thing. Very wrong.
Even Trump deserves criticism and accountability. Nobody is god. Shame on both of you.
Speaking for myself only, I take your sanctimonious disapproval as high praise.
Xone?
BS, got it from an active pilot after the two crashes. The foreign pilots were undertrained by any stretch of the imagination. I am a Safety School grad and it is obvious when two different pilot groups have different outcomes from the same 'emergency', it is no longer a 'system fault' causing the accidents. It is training and experience. Your EXPERIENCE may differ, but it is no longer fact based.
You are pathetic, blaming God. If you can feel shame, now's the time. Get educated before you emotionally opine. You are an embarrassment on tech issues.
I saw your post after the emoter. An idiot like that should have to pass a knowledge test. But you and I are godless. The fact she disagrees with me proves I am right. No knowledge, just bs along with her acolytes.
You know what’s funny?
Read the thread. I never made ANY comment about the 737MAX8 problems, or who was responsible for them. I just asked what you used to fly.
And THAT makes me “godless” apparently ...
It’s absurd!
For the record ... I think Boeing has problems. And the FAA has problems. And the whole 737MAX8 design issue stems in large part from bureaucratic stupidity.
BUT ...
Pilot training and maintenance practices are king. Always. And it’s no accident that the two fatal crashes occurred in the turd-world on turd-world airlines. The airline has primary responsibility to maintain and operate the equipment properly. If they can’t do that, they should either get different equipment or go out of business.
My Dad told me (back when I was learning to drive) that most car crashes result from problems with the nut behind the wheel ... that goes double for aviation.
” I am a Safety School grad”
WTF is a safety school???
You refuse to concede that even American pilots had sounded the alarm on about what was wrong about the MAX’s mechanisms. All of which went ignored prior to the 2nd crash.
Yes honor and integrity are in short supply in general, but to be this willingly sycophantic of people in power is a sickness akin to what you find in the doting, doe-eyex masses of fascist and Marxist regimes. Unbefitting of a site called “Free Republic.” It’s like do the Boeing CEO’s even pay you to be this subervient and defensive of them? 🙄
Consider yourself blessed you weren’t one the American couple who lost their only daughter.
I take your sanctimonious disapproval as high praise.
And just saw your reply on UPS plane. THAT case is not the same. Anyone capable of objectivity can see that. The Air India crash also this year, may somewhat implicate Boeing — given whistleblowers have been sounding the alarm about red flags in the Dreamliner manufacturing from way before (but still not the main culprit) — and the Alaska Air door blow-out was definitely Boeing…
But none of those situations have the stamp of blatant criminality the way the MAX crashes do.
Again you’re clearly in the tank for them to the death and are incapable of being objective, and take pride in being a sycophant.
I can at least acknowledge it did have a great reputation at one point. But a few of its leaders from the past decade belong in jail.
I suspect the primary qual for those pilots was that they spoke passable English which is the universal language of aviation.
Good. Did you learn anything from it? I'm trying to educate you ... are you able to learn, or only to hurl specious insults?
No surprise, your knowledge of all thing s aviation is nil.
I never equated the UPS plane to the Boeing MAX crashes. You are the one ignoring what American pilots said. So what’s your response to the Americans?
The spokesman for American Airlines’ pilots union called Boeing’s insinuation that foreign pilots were to blame for the crashes involving 737 MAX jets “inexcusable” and said AA pilots made several suggestions to Boeing to fix the 737 MAX’s systems before the second plane crash.
Tajer, who has flown the 737 MAX, argues the Ethiopian Airlines pilots did what they were instructed to do but that Boeing’s MCAS forced the plane into such an aggressive downward angle that the pilots could not recover.
“They had wired that thing so that it was irrecoverable. It just blew us away,” Tajer said.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/business/american-airlines-boeing-pilots-union
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.