Boeing Gets Away with Murder

[Loulit01]

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE: The deferred prosecution agreement allows Boeing and its top executives to avoid further criminal prosecution by admitting they conspired to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration in the certification of the 737 Max. The company acknowledges deceiving and misleading federal regulators about an automated flight control system that played a major role in both plane crashes. The deal also requires Boeing to pay $2.5 billion in compensation and a fine. But the settlement blindsided the families of the 346 people who died in the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia because they'd been told by the Justice Department there was no criminal investigation.

RYAN: This was a slap on the wrist for Boeing. It was done in the dark of the night kind of thing that nobody knew about it, that we had been lied to.

SCHAPER: Ryan and the other crash victims' family members say that under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, they had a legal right to be consulted before the deal was cut. And now they want the agreement rescinded. Michael Stumo's 24-year-old daughter, Samya, was also killed in the Ethiopian plane crash.

MICHAEL STUMO: We want accountability. We want the judge to say that we are victims under the definition of the Crime Victims' Rights Act. It's clear what that law says.

SCHAPER: In court documents responding to the family's motion, the Justice Department apologizes for not meeting and conferring with them. But the government contends it had no legal obligation to do so because the crash victims are not crime victims under the law. Prosecutors say the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Boeing's conspiracy to defraud the FAA is what caused the crashes. But Michael Stumo vehemently disagrees.

STUMO: Boeing committed a fraud on the FAA, which caused for an unsafe plane. And that unsafe plane crashed and killed our daughter. It's pretty straightforward.

SCHAPER: The deferred prosecution agreement is being sharply criticized by some unlikely political bedfellows, including Senators Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, and Texas Republican Ted Cruz, who wrote an amicus brief in support of the family's motion, saying in part that the Justice Department's position is simply nonsensical. And some legal experts agree.

737 Max crash victims' families aim to reopen Boeing's deferred prosecution agreement

The families of those killed in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes will be in federal court in Texas, arguing that the company's deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors should be rescinded.

www.capradio.org

This is what happens when corporations run the country. Boeing did fire the CEO at the time these crimes took place. They gave him a $62 million severance package. Heaven help us.

 

[Rexedgar]

Boeing is pretty much untouchable, imo.


They have the civilian/military aviation market cornered.

 

[dockside]

Boeing is pretty much untouchable, imo.


They have the civilian/military aviation market cornered.

Boeing took a sharp right turn when it merged with Lockheed. Lockheed's executives primary concern was increasing profits, safety be damned if it interfered with that primary concern. All you need to do is talk to former Boeing employees, especially those who were in quality control. Their stories would make you never want to fly on a Boeing airplane made after Lockheed's executives took over. Nowadays, you never hear the phrase from people in western WA who used to say: "If it isn't Boeing, I'm not going."

 

[Moon]

Boeing took a sharp right turn when it merged with Lockheed. Lockheed's executives primary concern was increasing profits, safety be damned if it interfered with that primary concern. All you need to do is talk to former Boeing employees, especially those who were in quality control. Their stories would make you never want to fly on a Boeing airplane made after Lockheed's executives took over.

Boeing bought McDonnell-Douglas, not Lockheed.

 

[notquiteright]

So while doctors are being made into criminals for performing abortions, CEO's can commit mass murder and pay a fine. Maybe money can't buy happiness but it appears it can buy out from under capital murder....

 

[dockside]

Boeing bought McDonnell-Douglas, not Lockheed.

You're right. I stand corrected. It was the executives from McDonnell-Douglas that ruined Boeing.

 

[Liberal7360]

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE: The deferred prosecution agreement allows Boeing and its top executives to avoid further criminal prosecution by admitting they conspired to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration in the certification of the 737 Max. The company acknowledges deceiving and misleading federal regulators about an automated flight control system that played a major role in both plane crashes. The deal also requires Boeing to pay $2.5 billion in compensation and a fine. But the settlement blindsided the families of the 346 people who died in the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia because they'd been told by the Justice Department there was no criminal investigation.

RYAN: This was a slap on the wrist for Boeing. It was done in the dark of the night kind of thing that nobody knew about it, that we had been lied to.

SCHAPER: Ryan and the other crash victims' family members say that under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, they had a legal right to be consulted before the deal was cut. And now they want the agreement rescinded. Michael Stumo's 24-year-old daughter, Samya, was also killed in the Ethiopian plane crash.

MICHAEL STUMO: We want accountability. We want the judge to say that we are victims under the definition of the Crime Victims' Rights Act. It's clear what that law says.

SCHAPER: In court documents responding to the family's motion, the Justice Department apologizes for not meeting and conferring with them. But the government contends it had no legal obligation to do so because the crash victims are not crime victims under the law. Prosecutors say the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Boeing's conspiracy to defraud the FAA is what caused the crashes. But Michael Stumo vehemently disagrees.

STUMO: Boeing committed a fraud on the FAA, which caused for an unsafe plane. And that unsafe plane crashed and killed our daughter. It's pretty straightforward.

SCHAPER: The deferred prosecution agreement is being sharply criticized by some unlikely political bedfellows, including Senators Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, and Texas Republican Ted Cruz, who wrote an amicus brief in support of the family's motion, saying in part that the Justice Department's position is simply nonsensical. And some legal experts agree.

737 Max crash victims' families aim to reopen Boeing's deferred prosecution agreement

The families of those killed in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes will be in federal court in Texas, arguing that the company's deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors should be rescinded.

www.capradio.org

This is what happens when corporations run the country. Boeing did fire the CEO at the time these crimes took place. They gave him a $62 million severance package. Heaven help us.

This is another example of why the anti trust and anti monopoly laws need to be imposed again.

The government pretty much stopped imposing those laws in the reagan years.

If Boeing wasn't allowed to become pretty much the only airplane manufacturer in the US, they wouldn't have the power to send their employees to DC to write all the laws and regulations that Boeing has to follow.

I know this has been happening since at least the 80s because my ex is one of those who works at Boeing and wrote a lot of the laws and regulations that govern GPS, communications and navigation. The senate voted to make him a co chairman of a senate sub-sub- committee and he has been writing the laws that Boeing has to follow and he wrote them all in favor of Boeing. He's been going to DC since the 80s and going to other nations to do the same thing since the 90s.

He also writes international law and regulations for GPS, communications and navigation.

He's still doing it too. He will continue to do it until he retires.

He writes all of the laws and regulations in favor of Boeing.

Boeing has been buying up aerospace companies since the 80s and now pretty much owns the market here in the US.

What needs to happen is Boeing needs to be broken up with all our anti trust and anti monopoly laws imposed on them.

There is a reason why Boeing gets away with so much. They get to write the laws that govern them.

They aren't the only ones either.

 

[Liberal7360]

Boeing took a sharp right turn when it merged with Lockheed. Lockheed's executives primary concern was increasing profits, safety be damned if it interfered with that primary concern. All you need to do is talk to former Boeing employees, especially those who were in quality control. Their stories would make you never want to fly on a Boeing airplane made after Lockheed's executives took over. Nowadays, you never hear the phrase from people in western WA who used to say: "If it isn't Boeing, I'm not going."

So true.

I'm a real Boeing Brat.

For those who don't know what that means, it's a person who is supported by Boeing but never worked there.

My dad started at Boeing in the 50s. His first plane was the 707. He was a design engineer and designed the interior of commercial planes. Everything but the cockpit.

Then in the 80s my dad got my ex his job there. He's now a senior technical fellow engineer. He's the GPS guy.

Boeing has supported me all my life and will support me until I die.

I have never worked at Boeing in my life.

I have been to more roll outs than most Boeing employees.

I know why the 737 max and the Dreamliner were a mess. I can't go into detail but it all goes down to money and outsourcing to China.

My dad lived by the "If it's not Boeing I'm not going" He would never get into an airplane that wasn't made by Boeing. I used to be the same way but Boeing isn't the same company it was until the 80s.

My dad designed the interiors of the Boeing 707, 727, 737, 747 and 767. He did originals, modifications and stretches.

My dad took the early retirement package for engineers Boeing offered in the 90s.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

I expect it is more tied to cost cutting on labor in the US. The plant in South Carolina seems to be the source of most issues. Cheap labour building 120 million dollar planes, a recipe for success