In a letter sent to the DOJ on June 19, 2024, Paul Cassel, a lawyer representing 15 families, said the large fine was justified because Boeing精东影业 鈥渃rime is the deadliest corporate crime in US history鈥� and therefore 鈥渓egally justified and clearly appropriate鈥�. 

In May 2024, the DOJ decided that Boeing violated its 2021 deferred prosecution agreement put in place following the 737 MAX fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.听 聽

Under the agreement, Boeing was forced to pay a $2.5 billion settlement and agree to abide by several conditions in the future.   

The DOJ found that Boeing violated that agreement when a plug door separated from an Alaska Airlines 737-8 MAX on January 5, 2024, just two days before it was set to expire.  

Last week Boeing denied it had violated the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. The DOJ has until July 7, 2024, to inform a judge how it wishes to proceed.  

The letter was sent on behalf of the victim精东影业 relatives after Dave Calhoun, the CEO of Boeing, appeared in front of senators at the in Washington DC.听

There Calhoun was grilled about 鈥淏oeing精东影业 broken safety culture鈥� and asked why he had not resigned since the Alaska Airlines incident.  

In 2018 all 189 people on Lion Air Flight 610 died in a crash and in 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed killing all 157 onboard. Both planes were Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.听聽

Exploring the use of robotics and automation to enhance airport ground handling

• Aviation Technology and Innovation

byJean Carmela Lim

2024-07-06

The Lion Air group, which is based in Indonesia and has several subsidiaries across Southeast Asia, operates several aircraft types. Its narrow-body fleet largely consists of Boeing 737 aircraft, with the airline group operating 165 737s throughout its subsidiaries. Lion Air Group carriers also operate 90 Airbus A320 family aircraft, including the A320neo. 

Additional types in its fleet include the ATR 72 and the Airbus A330-300 and the A330-900neo.

However, a brochure and a passenger safety card displaying a Lion Air-branded Airbus A220 has been spotted on Twitter. A QR code included in the material leads to a website page that redirects to either a booklet overviewing all of Airbus鈥� aircraft, or a page where a person could explore services offered by the European manufacturer. 

鈥淭he A220 is the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100 to 150 seat market, resulting in the aircraft精东影业 phenomenal economics and performance, opening new opportunities for single-aisle operations,鈥� read a sentence from the product overview booklet. 

According to ch-aviation.com data, Lion Air has a total of 422 new aircraft on order: 16 ATR 72-600, 112 Airbus A320neo, 65 A321neo, 179 Boeing 737 MAX-8, and 50鈥�737 MAX-10s.  

Airbus is currently conducting a demonstrational tour of the Airbus A220 throughout the region. Utilizing one of airBaltic精东影业 Airbus A220s, which departed its home hub of Riga Airport (RIX) on May 20, 2023, the manufacturer has brought the aircraft to locations such as Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport (DMK), Thailand, Kuching International Airport (KCH), Langkawi International Airport (LGK), and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), Malaysia. 

The A220 was last spotted operating a flight from and to Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport (CGK), Indonesia, on May 25, 2023, flightradar24.com records showed. 

Airbus takes airBaltic鈥榮 A220 on a demo tour in Southeast Asia

• Aircraft

byRytis Beresnevicius

2023-05-22

According to Airbus鈥� Orders & Deliveries data, out of the total 785 orders for the Airbus A220 as of April 31, 2023, only 33 were from Asia-Pacific-based airlines. North America is the largest market for the aircraft.  

精东影业 approached Airbus and Lion Air for comment. 

According to the inspector general for the Department of Transportation (DoT) investigators found that engineers 鈥渞ecommended grounding the airplane while the accident was being investigated based on what they perceived as similarities鈥� between two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes. 

The DoT report, which was released on Friday April 28, 2023, said at the time there was also rival data that concluded the two crashes were not linked. 

Ultimately the FAA decided not to ground the aircraft immediately after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed on March 10, 2019, and instead wait for 鈥渕ore detailed data to arrive鈥�. 

According to in March 2019 while the FAA awaited more data, the authority issued an official notice supporting its decision not to ground the 737 MAX.听

At the time an engineer concluded that based on their analysis the risk of a 737 MAX crash was 13 times higher than the relevant FAA standard. 

However, this document was not completed and was not reviewed due to a lack of detailed data.  

In its conclusion the inspector general said that the FAA精东影业 processes following the second fatal crash 鈥渁ligned with its typical processes鈥� but referred to these as 鈥渙utdated鈥�. 

The FAA told the inspector general it was updating its guidelines on grounding an aircraft when urgent safety issues are detected.  

The FAA told CNN that it 鈥渃oncurs with the Inspector General精东影业 recommendations.鈥� 

鈥淭he agency also identified the issues outlined in the report before it was issued and is working to address them,鈥� the FAA said. 鈥淎s we incorporate these recommendations, we also continue to look for additional opportunities to apply lessons learned from the Boeing 737 MAX精东影业 return to service.鈥� 

The first fatal 737 MAX crash on October 29, 2018, involved a Lion Air flight.  

Following the Ethiopian Airlines crash seven months later, three days past before the 737 MAX was grounded in the United States. 聽

Boeing adds 787-10 ‘Explorer’ to its ecoDemonstrator flight testing program

• Aviation Technology and Innovation

byRytis Beresnevicius

2023-04-28

The two lawyers from Pasadena, California, US, were charged with eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of criminal contempt of court, according to the indictment filed in the US District Court of Chicago. A third defendant, working as one of the lawyer精东影业 head of accounting and finance, was also charged with the same offenses. 

鈥淭he substantial misappropriation alleged in this indictment compounded the grief and anguish of the clients who lost loved ones in the Lion Air crash,鈥� said John R. Lausch, a United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. 鈥淎ttorneys who violate the trust of their clients and breach a fiduciary duty that is paramount to the practice of law must be held accountable.鈥� 

The Lion Air accident was one of the two fatal crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX. The aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Soekarno鈥揌atta International Airport (CGK) in Jakarta, Indonesia, claiming the lives of 189 people in October 2018. The second accident happened in Ethiopia when an Ethiopian Airlines jet of the same type plunged into the ground several minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 2019, with no survivors of the 157 people onboard. 

NTSB continues criticism of Ethiopia精东影业 737 MAX crash report

• Aviation Safety

byRytis Beresnevicius

2023-01-25

Involved in the Lion Air case against Boeing 

The two lawyers represented five clients, who were families of the victims of the Lion Air crash in October 2018, in a federal court in Chicago. 

In that case, Boeing was the defendant. The two sides settled in 2020, and the manufacturer精东影业 counsel wired the $3 million to one of the lawyer精东影业 trust accounts, with the majority of the sum intended to go to the victims鈥� families. However, according to the charges, the two lawyers and their accountant 鈥渕isappropriated more than $3 million of the settlement funds by diverting the money for improper purposes, including paying the firm精东影业 payroll and operating expenses鈥�. Those expenses include funding settlements to other clients of the firm, 鈥渨hose own settlement funds had been misappropriated by the firm,鈥� read the attorney精东影业 office精东影业 document. 

鈥淎t one point they falsely told the clients that the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the firm from distributing the settlement funds, while at other times they falsely claimed that 鈥渟erious issues鈥� had arisen with Boeing that delayed the distributions, the indictment states,鈥� continued the filing. 

According to the Court, 鈥渢he indictment seeks forfeiture from the defendants in the amount of $3,069,500鈥�. 

Still, 鈥渁n indictment is not evidence of guilt.鈥� If found guilty, each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. Contempt count penalties are determined by the Court. 

Boeing pleads not guilty on 737 MAX fraud charges

• Aircraft

byRytis Beresnevicius

2023-01-27

Flight JT797 was enroute to Jayapura精东影业 Dortheys Hiyo Eluay International Airport (DJJ) on January 26, 2023, when the Boeing 737-900, with registration PK-LFO, clipped its right wing against the airport terminal building as it was leaving the stand. 

Video footage uploaded on Twitter shows the aircraft returning to the gate, and shows the damage done to the airport building. 

There were no reported injuries or casualties. 

鈥淔ollowing up on the incident, currently Lion Air and the relevant authorities are conducting further investigations,鈥� a Lion Air spokesperson . 

Lion Air Boeing 737 suffers runway excursion

• Airlines

byRytis Beresnevicius

2020-12-21

The family members filed a brief on January 25, 2023, the day before Boeing精东影业 representatives are set to appear at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas on January 26, 2023.

While Boeing agreed to a settlement with the Department of Justice (DoJ) to avoid fraud charges, the district精东影业 judge Reed O鈥機onnor ordered the planemaker to appear in front of the court because the DoJ violated a victims-right law that prohibits the executive department of secretly negotiating with companies without notifying the victims.

It remains unclear whether the judge wants to remove Boeing精东影业 immunity from criminal charges regarding the two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that, in total, claimed the lives of 346 people. 

Boeing slated for arraignment on fraud charges after聽737 MAX crashes

• Civil Aviation

byClement Charpentreau

2023-01-20

According to the filed brief, the relatives of the victim’s state that the planemaker 鈥渃ommitted the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history鈥�. Furthermore, if it had not defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a 鈥渃riminal conspiracy鈥�, all of the people on board the crashed aircraft would have continued to live until this day. “Only an independent monitor 鈥� the proverbial second set of eyes 鈥� can begin to restore confidence in Boeing and ensure safety of the community,” the filing continued. 

Boeing精东影业 deal with DoJ resulted in the manufacturer of the 737 MAX paying out up to $2.5 billion in fines and compensation to airlines, governments, and families of the victims of up to $2.5 billion. The deal also included the manufacturer精东影业 admittance that it defrauded the FAA. David Calhoun, who succeeded Dennis Muilenburg as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boeing, after the latter was ousted due to the 737 MAX crisis, told CNBC on January 25, 2023, that 鈥渕y reaction to the families is always the same, just nothing but heartbreak鈥�. 

NTSB continues criticism of Ethiopia精东影业 737 MAX crash report

• Aviation Safety

byRytis Beresnevicius

2023-01-25

The pair of new A330neos arrived at the airline精东影业 base at Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) from the Airbus aircraft facility in Toulouse, France, on October 7, 2021. 

Thai Lion Air Airbus A330neo has a capability to seat up to 436 passengers. Airbus A330neo, which comprises two versions, the A330-800 and A330-900, has a range of 13,334 kilometres and can reach a top speed of 0.86 Mach (1,054 kilometres per hour).

Thai Lion Air currently has 12 aircraft in its fleet with an average age of five years old, according to Planespotters.net. The airline精东影业 fleet comprises six Boeing 737-800s, three Boeing 737 MAX 9s, two Airbus A330neo aircraft, and one Boeing 737-900ER. 

In a statement, Thai Lion Air announced that it will deploy two new A330neos for international routes once Thailand reopens borders for tourists. 

According to Reuters, Thailand plans to reopen Bangkok to fully-vaccinated tourists in October 2021. Other popular destinations in Thailand such as Hua Hin, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai will be reopened afterwards. 

Thailand精东影业 Court approves ailing Nok Airlines recovery plan

• Airlines

byGabriele Petrauskaite

2021-09-30

The Indonesian low-cost carrier精东影业 Boeing 737 (registered as PK-LGP) was operating flight JT173 from Batam Hang Nadim Airport (BTH), Indonesia to Lampung Radin Inten II Airport (TKG), Indonesia on December 20, 2020. Upon landing in TKG with 125 passengers and seven crew members on board, the Lion Air crew attempted to backtrack to the apron. The aircraft veered off the runway and came to a halt on the grass, as the 737精东影业 right-hand landing gear wheels got stuck in the mud.

The Lion Air Beoing 737 was scheduled to fly back to Batam, Indonesia on December 20, 2020. However, the flight was canceled and the Lion Air Boeing 737 has sat at BTH ever since the incident, flightradar24.com data shows. According to reports, the aircraft landed in heavy rain conditions, but visibility was sufficient to land safely.

No injuries or damage to the aircraft were reported as of now.

Sehubungan dengan kejadian tergelincirnya Lion Air JT 173 di Bandara Raden Inten II Lampung pada 20 Des 2020. KNKT mengirimkan tim investigasi yaitu Ony Soerjo Wibowo dan Capt. Chaerudin

鈥� Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) (@KNKT_RI)

Incorrect ATC data blamed for Yakutia SSJ100 runway excursion

• Aviation Safety

byClement Charpentreau

2020-10-22

If you have missed the second part of the timeline, check it out here:

When the Ethiopian investigators released the preliminary report, Boeing and MCAS were put on a spotlight. The two accidents were eerily similar and it was obvious 鈥� the additional software to prevent the 737 MAX from stalling was at the heart of the two fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. For Boeing, it meant two things:

Firstly, the update to MCAS itself was the number one priority to get the MAX off the ground. As weeks, and later months, passed after the grounding, Boeing started running out of space to store the manufactured aircraft, as the company still produces 42 MAX planes per month.

Secondly, it had to rebuild the burned bridges throughout the crisis. The public image of the company went down the drain and is yet to recover. Headlines about the production of the 737 MAX and the culture within the company put a burden on the crisis communications campaign, that was already lackluster.

The Boeing 737 MAX situation is truly unprecedented. Previous to this, a full-scale grounding of a jet was a very rare occurrence. Even then, the groundings were lifted rather quickly. With the MAX, Boeing broke its relationship with three main pillars that keep the aviation industry together 鈥� aircraft crews, airlines and passengers.

Diverting the blame to pilots

On May 13, 2019, Dallas Morning News revealed the contents of an audiotape they received from a meeting between Boeing and American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) pilots. A few weeks after a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crashed on October 29, 2018, tensions were already at an all-time high.

At the meeting, pilots angrily confronted a Boeing representative, with such comments as: 鈥淲e flat out deserve to know what is on our airplanes鈥�. The tone and topic in the meeting were very clear 鈥� pilots were not happy with the manufacturer or the way it kept MCAS in the dark:

鈥淭hese guys didn’t even know the damn system was on the airplane鈥�.

Even when Boeing did admit that the software, exclusive to the MAX, was a link in a 鈥渃hain of events鈥� that brought down two airliners, some still believe pilot training was at fault, rather than the manufacturer itself. For instance, On May 15, 2019, Republican U.S. Representative Sam Graves during a House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure hearing regarding the 737 MAX status stated: 鈥濬or me, the accident reports reaffirm my belief that pilots trained in the United States would have successfully handled the situation.  The reports compound my concerns about quality training standards in other countries鈥�.

At the same hearing, Peter DeFazio, the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, had other beliefs. While Graves highlighted that 鈥渢he preliminary reports reveal pilot error as a factor in these tragically fatal accidents鈥�, DeFazio questioned the viewpoint of blaming the pilots:

鈥淲hy, until the plane went down, the first plane of Lion Air, it wasn鈥檛 even in the manual that this automated system existed?鈥�

DeFazio added: 鈥淗ow the hell are you [the pilot 鈥� ed. note] the redundancy if you don鈥檛 know something? There精东影业 something called the startle factor. I鈥檓 not a commercial pilot, but I got to tell you, if you鈥檙e at a low altitude and the plane starts automatically pitching itself down every ten seconds, there精东影业 going to be a lot of people who are going to have trouble dealing with that鈥�.

Missing alerts in the cockpit

However, as both preliminary reports have highlighted, pilots fought systems onboard the Boeing 737 MAX to the last minute. Lion Air pilots scrambled through a handbook to find out what was happening to their aircraft, according to leaked CVR audio. But the information on how to disable the automatic nose-down movements was not there.

Ethiopian Airlines pilots did disable MCAS, but as mentioned in Part II, due to the inherent design issues with the horizontal stabilizer controls, pilots were unable to trim back manually. In a move out of desperation to save the 737 MAX, the pilots re-activated electrical trim inputs to help them regain control of the aircraft.

All while the stick shaker was active and multiple data readings contradicted each other on the Captain精东影业 and First Officer精东影业 flight displays, adding even more complexity to the situation.

But one data reading was missing 鈥� the AOA Disagree alert. Boeing, in two separate Press Releases, deemed that the alert was not crucial for 鈥渢he safe operation of the airplane鈥�. However, the very same alert is a standard feature on every Boeing 737 NG/MAX.

When Boeing started deliveries of the MAX in 2017, it noticed that alert was not working due to a . The AOA disagree alert would only be active if the airline opted and paid for an AOA indicator.

Boeing will include the AOA disagree alert in the newest software update to the 737 MAX, begging the question whether the alert is truly not needed in order to operate the aircraft safely?

Nevertheless, on May 16, 2019, the manufacturer presented the newest software update, which includes a revised pilot training program, for the FAA精东影业 approval.

One of the update test flights was attended by Dennis Muilenburg, in order to prove that the new software on the 737 MAX was very safe:

Dennis Muilenburg, , experienced first-hand our MCAS software update performing safely in action during a 737 MAX 7 demo flight today.

More about the proposed MCAS software update here:

鈥� The Boeing Company (@Boeing)

No timeline for return

On June 26, 2019, the FAA found issues with the update. As a result, the grounding is set to continue into 2019, with some guessing that a Boeing 737 MAX will fly a commercial flight only in Q1 of 2020.

FAA精东影业 pilots identified a new issue related to the software. The problem is separate from MCAS, but it also tried to push the plane精东影业 nose down after the onboard computer received erroneous flight data, according to .

Two days after the FAA announced a new problem with the MAX, reports surfaced that Boeing outsourced software engineers from India that worked for $9 per hour. In contrast, the U.S. Department of Labor indicates that the minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour.

While the purchasing power in the two countries differs, the matter of fact is that Boeing clearly wanted to save money on labor costs 鈥� software engineers in the United States do not earn $1.75 more than the minimum wage.

Boeing has denied outsourcing engineers to develop MCAS or code the faulty AOA disagree alert, as reported by Bloomberg. However, ongoing software issues with the MAX, as highlighted by the FAA and cost-cutting measures behind its development put Boeing in a very bad light. 

The Chicago-based manufacturer hopes that the groundings will lift in Q4 of 2019, but according to the company 鈥渁ctual timing of return to service could differ from this estimate鈥�. FAA精东影业 acting administrator, Daniel Elwell, is also not handing out promises and says that they 鈥渄on鈥檛 have a timeline鈥�.

On July 8, 2019, EASA, the acting aviation safety regulator in Europe, has also laid out a five-point plan of the jet精东影业 return to European skies. EASA has found an additional issue with the autopilot, which the FAA reportedly has missed.

Costly groundings

Understandably so, the aircraft crews of the 737 MAX were angry about the situation.

The airlines, operating the troubled airliner have also expressed their concerns. Some have sued Boeing asking for compensation, as grounded jets not only do not generate money, but airlines have to pay parking and other fees too.

For example, a low-cost carrier from Saudi Arabia flyadeal has decided not to go through with its order of 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft 鈥� instead switching to its main rival, the Airbus A320 family.

Just recently, on July 29, 2019, Ryanair announced their Q1 financial results. The Irish airline highlighted that the grounding will negatively impact their growth rate and subsequently profits, which are already dwindling. One of the most outspoken CEO精东影业 in aviation, Michael O鈥橪eary, expects Boeing tol cover Ryanair精东影业 losses related to the groundings. O鈥橪eary also expects to have 58 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by summer of 2020, but it could be 0 if 鈥淏oeing don鈥檛 get their s***t together pretty quickly with the regulators鈥�.

The two low-cost carriers have joined a long list of airlines that are unhappy with the way Boeing has handled the situation and how the day that regulators lift the ban on the MAX is always so close, yet so far away, as the jet encounters further issues.

But the list does not consist of airlines only: pilots, families that have lost loved ones on the two fatal crashes, and multiple United States government authorities, including the Senate, have sued and launched criminal investigations against the aircraft manufacturer.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) passengers have sued Boeing 鈥� accusing the manufacturer and Southwest, one of the biggest operators of the MAX, of conspiring  to hide 鈥渢he defect in this model, and to assure the public that the 737 MAX 8 was safe (it was not), and later that it was fixed (it was not)鈥�.

Rebuilding trust

However, lawsuits will not be the biggest issue for Boeing. Although the company will have to defend itself in multiple court cases and likely to pay out compensations that could end up being in the billions, the company is simply too big to fall apart like De Havilland after the Comet groundings, for example.

Boeing is one of the biggest lobbyists in the United States, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2019 alone, the company spent $7.2 million to influence political decisions in the United States. The trade war between China and the United States has put Boeing in the spotlight, as the manufacturer was negotiating a deal back in June 2019 for wide-body aircraft worth $30 billion with Chinese airlines. In the United States alone, the company employs more than 150 000 people, not including thousands of jobs overseas.

Simply put, Boeing is too important for the United States and the aviation industry itself to declare insolvency as a result of the crisis. No president would want to associate his term with the fact that a company, which once employed over 150 000 people, closed the doors on its factories.

But the way that Boeing has handled the crisis in the eyes of the public is threatening to tear down the trust that the aviation industry has built since the 20th century, when safety was still in early infancy.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seen by Reuters, Boeing revealed that claims for 171 of the 189 people on board had been addressed. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Many of the lawsuits blamed Boeing for not telling pilots about the MCAS system that was determined as the main cause for the crash of the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX. They denounced the lack of safety in the plane design and certification, as well as the insufficient information provided to the pilots and operators. 

Their accusations were recently confirmed by an investigation of the Inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The investigation found that the MCAS was presented as a simple update of the already existing speed trim system that would not activate often, and therefore that it 鈥渄id not receive a more detailed review or discussion between FAA engineers and Boeing.鈥�

Boeing deflected FAA attention from 737 MAX MCAS system

• Aircraft

byClement Charpentreau

2020-10-22

Following the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 five months later, the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft family was globally grounded. Since then, the manufacturer has updated the MCAS system and is awaiting recertification from the FAA and other world regulators. A three-day flight campaign testing the MCAS was carried out on June 30, 2020.

However, following 14 months of grounding and the crisis in the air industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic, operators have grown impatient and money-savvy. On June 29, 2020, the low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle canceled all its pending orders for 92 737 MAX. The Irish-based lessor Avolon reduced its orderbook by another 27 of the jets on July 7, 2020, after already canceling 75 of them in April 2020. In total, 313 Boeing 737 MAX orders were canceled in 2020.

Avolon cancels another 27 Boeing 737 MAX

• Aviation Economics & Finance

byClement Charpentreau

2020-07-07