Boeing to pay $2.5bn over 737 Max conspiracy
The US Justice Department said the firm chose “profit over candour”, impeding oversight of the planes, which were involved in two deadly crashes.
Boeing said the agreement acknowledged how the firm “fell short”.
Boeing chief executive David Calhoun said: “I firmly believe that entering into this resolution is the right thing for us to do – a step that appropriately acknowledges how we fell short of our values and expectations.
Boeing did not co-operate with investigators for six months, the DOJ said.
“The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world’s leading commercial airplane manufacturers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General David Burns.
media captionPaul Njoroge says his family died because of Boeing’s “negligence”
Boeing says it has now addressed concerns about the Max, while the plane returned to service in the US in December.
‘Scrutiny unlikely to stop here’
The charge against Boeing was that its employees used “misleading statements, half truths and omissions” to dupe the regulator charged with maintaining the safety of US aviation.
Yet while the 737 Max is back in the air, the scrutiny of Boeing and the FAA is unlikely to stop here.