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Boeing Charged with “Deadliest Corporate Crime in U.S.,” Faces Over $24 Billion Fine

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Boeing 737 MAX and Boeing 777 X

In October 2018 and March 2019, a total of 346 people were killed in separate air crashes involving Indonesian Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights, with the crashed aircraft being Boeing 737 MAX 8s, which stir up the fears of the whole society. On the 19th of this month, the families of the victims of the two crashes asked the Department of Justice to impose fines of up to more than $24 billion on the aircraft manufacturers and to move forward with the criminal prosecution process.

Boeing admits to retaliating against employees who raised safety concerns

Shanghai First Financial reported that the families of those who lost loved ones in the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes said Boeing had committed “the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history” and demanded that the Justice Department impose a fine of up to $24.78 billion on the company.

Several media outlets noted that the attendees of the 18th hearing included the family of Barnett, a former Boeing quality control engineer. After submitting a quality inspection report to the Federal Aviation Administration related to Boeing airliners, Barnett passed away in March of this year, which was later determined to be a suicide by the police. Less than two months later, another whistleblower and former QA inspector, Dean, passed away. This was highly scrutinized by this hearing.

CNN reported that Congress Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Blumenthal exposed Boeing’s “scapegoat culture” at the hearing, saying that the company’s management is accustomed to “shifting the blame downward” and retaliatory behavior toward whistleblowers. He claimed that before Barnett’s death, he had been harassed by a Boeing executive who called 20 times a day, threatening Barnett with “I’m just going to drive you to the point of collapse”.

The families of the victims have also demanded that Boeing’s board of directors meet with them and that the company’s executives face criminal prosecution, including former CEO Milenberg, who resigned after two crashes.

Two Boeing crashes in October 2018 in Indonesia and March 2019 in Ethiopia killed 346 people. Post-crash investigations revealed that both crashes were linked to Boeing’s flight control systems.

Prior to that, the Department of Justice indicted Boeing in 2021. The DOJ delayed prosecution after Boeing agreed to pay a $2.5 billion fine. But after the door of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 exploded on an Alaska Airlines airliner in January, the DOJ said last month that Boeing had violated the 2021 agreement. As a result, the DOJ will have until July 7 to decide whether to move forward with prosecution.

Calhoun, CEO of Boeing

This comes a day after Boeing CEO Calhoun admitted during an appearance at a Senate hearing on the 18th that Boeing had taken retaliatory action against employees who raised safety concerns, and then apologized to the families of the Boeing 737 MAX crash victims who were present.

He said, “I’m aware of that, and the company has fired the supervisor who pressured Barnett.” But he said he had “no idea” how many other such cases there were at the company, CNN added, adding that Calhoun repeatedly avoided questions at the hearing about Boeing’s payouts in two previous crashes, using the excuse that he had “no idea”. At one point, the congressman who asked the question exclaimed, “You’re the CEO of this company. Calhoun also said Boeing is “far from perfect”. He also acknowledged that the company still has a lot of work to do to regain the public’s trust.

However, when asked to take personal responsibility, Calhoun did not give a positive answer.

737 MAX exposed to another engine safety hazard due to bird strike

It is worth noting that in recent days, the media once again exposed the Boeing 737 MAX airliners may have safety hazards: when the aircraft engine by the bird impact, the cabin or cockpit may be filled with smoke, and Boeing did not provide comprehensive information to air carriers.

CNN reported that Boeing in February this year on the engine hidden danger to the United States Southwest Airlines and American Airlines issued a warning, the two carriers were then conveyed to their pilots the relevant information.

On March 5 last year, a Southwest Airlines 737 MAX 8, flying from Cuba to the United States, suffered serious damage to its right engine when it was struck by a bird on take-off, causing the cabin to fill with smoke. On December 20 of the same year, another Southwest Airlines aircraft of the same model flew a domestic flight from the United States, and shortly after takeoff, the left engine was struck by a bird, causing smoke to fill the cockpit. Both planes made emergency landings without incident.

According to the Seattle Times, it is not uncommon for an engine to be damaged by a bird strike, but what is unusual is for smoke to enter the cabin as a result. In both cases, the birdstrike caused engine damage, leaking oil into the engine and burning it, with the resulting smoke entering the cockpit and cabin through the air-conditioning system connected to the engine.

Recognizing the “unusually high risk” of both incidents, Boeing reportedly issued an alert to both carriers in February of this year to ensure that pilots had the proper procedures in place to quickly stop smoke infiltration during such emergencies. There are three different actions pilots can take in response to engine damage and smoke entering the cabin, but two of them will not immediately stop the smoke from entering; the only possible action is to shut down the engine and pull the fire handle.

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