Senators urge accountability for Boeing execs over safety violations

Two Democratic senators sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, pressing the top Justice Department official to take a tougher approach to Boeing and prosecute the company’s executives for not doing enough to ensure passenger safety.

The letter, from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, criticized the Justice Department for not doing enough to hold Boeing accountable for several serious safety issues over the past few months.

Boeing has been grappling with ongoing problems, including a January incident in which a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines flight midair.

“Serious safety issues continue to appear with Boeing planes, despite DOJ’s past efforts,” the letter states. “In the past six years, Boeing has cycled through three different CEOs, each promising to improve safety at the company. Meanwhile, Boeing machinists, Boeing managers and the National Transportation Safety Board continue to highlight ongoing safety concerns at the company.”

On Sept. 26, the National Transportation Safety Board issued an emergency safety alert for some Boeing planes after learning of a defect that could cause the rudder control system that helps steer the aircraft to jam.

In their letter, Warren and Blumenthal said the Justice Department’s “continued refusal to criminally prosecute responsible individuals” had allowed Boeing to engage in a culture “that has promoted short-term profit over passenger safety.”

Boeing declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment further.

The Justice Department has come under criticism from lawmakers and others for not doing enough to hold Boeing accountable for the culture changes the company promised to undertake after two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets killed 300 people in 2018 and 2019.

In a deal with the Justice Department, Boeing pleaded guilty in July to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the federal government in connection with the crashes. It also agreed to pay a $487.2 million fine, the maximum allowed by law, and invest at least $455 million over the next three years to enhance its compliance and safety programs.

But in May, the Justice Department had determined Boeing violated the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement.

The company was placed on probation, supervised by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, for three years.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.