London: Boeing pleaded not guilty to deceiving US regulators about changes made to its 737 Max flight control system that led to two horrific crashes, before relatives of some victims made tearful appeals to the judge to hold the aircraft maker accountable. Two years ago, Boeing reached a controversial deferred prosecution agreement with the government that granted the company legal immunity. The not-guilty plea could put the company at risk of violating the DOJ agreement, which forbade it from denying its role in hiding issues with the 737 Max flight control system from the Federal Aviation Administration. The system was faulted in the crashes of a Lion Air plane in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Air flight less than five months later. Lawyers for the families argue that they were blindsided by the 2021 deal and weren’t consulted on its terms.

Source: Ethiopian News January 27, 2023 09:37 UTC