Boeing is under closer scrutiny as families want justice for the victims of the 2019 737 Max crash

The families of those who perished in the 2019 Boeing tragedy in Ethiopia want charges against the company to be brought back.

A group of about twelve relatives of those who died in the 2019 Ethiopian Boeing 737 Max tragedy gathered with government representatives in Washington, DC, and demanded that the Justice Department bring new criminal charges against the airline.

Boeing was spared legal action in 2021 after reaching a deal over allegations that it had misled regulators into approving the Max.

Families of those impacted by the Ethiopian incident continue to push the Justice Department to take criminal action against the company in the federal district court in Texas, where the settlement was filed, despite Boeing having reached undisclosed settlements with the families of passengers who perished in the crash.

Relatives were told on Wednesday by US Department of Justice officials that the matter is still under consideration.

Family members called a press conference after the meeting to voice their dissatisfaction with the Department of Justice. The father of Zipporah Kuria, who lost her father Joseph Kuria in the disaster, said, “Today’s meeting with the DOJ, has left me quite disheartened.” “For us, the issue is no longer about justice or the miscarriage of justice. It concerns public safety.

Families’ attorney Paul Cassell promised to “keep fighting” in the event that the Justice Department decides to drop its allegations against Boeing this summer. “It appears to us that the Justice Department is continuing to give a wealthy, powerful, well-connected corporation benefits that any other defendant in the criminal justice system would never get,” he said, criticizing the Justice Department for allegedly favoring Boeing. We will battle the Justice Department at every chance if they attempt to drop the allegations against Boeing this summer.

The gathering was emotional, according to Nadia Milleron, whose daughter Samya Stumo perished in the collision. She noted that attendees voiced displeasure and outrage. Milleron said that significant evidence against Boeing is being overlooked by the Justice Department.

“People are upset. Individuals are yelling. Individuals are beginning to talk over each other,” observed Milleron, who observed the event virtually from her Massachusetts home while her spouse was present in person. The Justice Department, according to relatives, is “overlooking a mountain of evidence against Boeing.” It’s perplexing,” she remarked.

Glenn Leon, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division’s fraud department, reportedly told Milleron that the agency may decide to continue its investigation past this summer, have a trial for Boeing’s alleged regulator-baiting, or ask for the case to be dropped. He did not, however, make any firm promises.

The incident in January involving a door stopper bursting out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight, leaving a large hole in the aircraft, has forced Boeing executives to put safety above financial concerns.

This setback has halted Boeing’s seeming recovery from the two deadly Max crashes that occurred in Ethiopia and Indonesia in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with 346 fatalities.