Boeing accepts plea deal to avoid criminal trial over 737 Max crashes

The U.S. Justice Department says Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to criminal fraud over two deadly crashes of its 737 Max jet.

Under the plea deal, the embattled aircraft maker would pay a fine of $243.6m.

The deal is subject to approval by a federal judge.

The plea agreement announced Sunday only relates to Boeing’s culpability in relation to the 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, in Indonesia and Ethiopia respectively. The two disasters killed 346 people.

Boeing admitted it had deceived regulators about its Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a flight stabilisation software programme that was linked to both crashes.

Lawyers representing the families of victims slammed the deal, calling it an attempt at hiding Boeing's crimes.