Boeing Co. was ordered to appear at a public arraignment in Texas next week on a felony charge related to two crashes of its 737 Max jets, as some victims’ families fight to unwind a plea deal that the company reached with US prosecutors. The aircraft manufacturer has so far avoided prosecution under the terms of its 2021 agreement with the US Justice Department. But US District Judge Reed O’Connor on Thursday ordered a Boeing representative to attend a Jan. 26 hearing, where family members of passengers killed in the crashes will have an opportunity to testify. Under the original deferred-prosecution agreement, Boeing would plead guilty to defrauding federal regulators and was ordered to pay $2.5 billion in fines and compensation, including a $243.6 million penalty. Families of the crash victims asked O’Connor to arraign Boeing in December of 2021, but the request was on hold while the judge considered their status as official crime victims.

Source: Ethiopian News January 20, 2023 21:37 UTC