Thirty-one families who lost loved ones in two crashes of Boeing 737 MAX8 jets will be arguing before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Thursday, February 5, at 11:30 a.m. CST, asking the three-judge panel to overturn the district court’s previous order dismissing the criminal case against the aircraft giant. The oral argument can be heard online here.
Paul Cassell, attorney for the families and Professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, authored an extensive brief on behalf of those who lost loved ones in two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 MAX8 jets. He petitioned the federal appeals court to reverse the recent decision of a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, who dismissed the criminal conspiracy charge against Boeing for the crashes that killed 346 people seven years ago. Cassell argues that the Justice Department has continued to violate the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not conferring reasonably with the families before moving to drop all the charges against Boeing. Cassell is asking the Fifth Circuit to set outside the recently negotiated non-prosecution agreement (NPA) between the Justice Department and Boeing as well as the earlier negotiated deferred prosecution agreement (DPA).
The families had argued before U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor that the Department of Justice’s NPA was orchestrated in violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act because the prosecutors did not reasonably confer with the families and concealed important provisions in the agreement. Their petitions also argued that, in moving to dismiss the charges, the DOJ failed to hold Boeing and its then-corporate leadership accountable for causing the deaths of 346 passengers and crew. Cassell will also argue on behalf of the families that the government’s NPA with Boeing would not provide sufficient oversight of Boeing’s manufacturing facilities and failed to account for the fact that Boeing’s criminal behavior was found to have caused the deaths of 346 crash victims.
Boeing’s CEO and its lawyers had admitted to the deadly fraud in a deferred prosecution agreement reached four years ago, and what has been described as the deadliest criminal fraud in U.S. history.
Some family members are expected to be in attendance when Cassell asks the judge to reject the DOJ’s agreement with Boeing not to prosecute the aircraft manufacturer for criminal fraud. On Nov. 6, 2025, Judge O’Connor found that the families’ arguments were “compelling,” but he reluctantly concluded he had no choice but to approve the dismissal.
The first crash occurred Oct. 29, 2019, shortly after takeoff in the Java Sea from Indonesia, killing all 189 aboard. The second crash of the same type of jet crashed months later, on March 10, 2019, shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia’s airport, killing all 157 on board. A new anti-stall system on the planes, of which pilots were never told or trained, automatically caused the nose of the plane to push downward.
In January 2021, the DOJ charged Boeing with conspiracy to defraud the FAA in its certification of the defective MAX8 aircraft and reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing. The families were found to be crime victims under the federal Crime Victims Act.
In May 2024, following the blowout of an unsecured door plug aboard an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX, the DOJ found that Boeing had breached the deferred prosecution agreement by not putting in place appropriate corporate compliance and safety measures. In July 2024, the DOJ and Boeing reached a deal in which Boeing was to plead guilty. The families objected to the terms as not punitive enough, and in December 2024, Judge O’Connor rejected that deal. Now he has agreed with the DOJ’s position, setting up the appellate challenge in the Fifth Circuit.
Professor Cassell commented: “The only fair and just outcome in this case is a jury trial, where Boeing’s guilt for causing the deaths of 346 people can be transparently decided. The victims’ families deserve to justice being done in this important criminal case.”
For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).