DOJ: Boeing broke 2021 agreement that shielded it from charges for 737 crashes

May 14 (UPI) -- The Justice Department on Tuesday told Boeing it violated a 2021 agreement that protected it from criminal charges tied to two fatal 737 Max crashes.

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing in Texas that the Justice Department is deciding "how it will proceed in this matter," but the violation opens Boeing up to potential U.S. prosecution.

Boeing denied violating the agreement.

"We believe that we have honored the terms of that agreement, and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department on this issue," Boeing said.

Boeing in 2021 entered a deferred prosecution agreement after two 737 Max airplane crashes killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

The company agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a conspiracy charge with the Justice Department and promised to improve its safety and compliance protocols.

The Justice Department at the time said Boeing admitted that two of its Max technical pilots "deceived" the Federal Aviation Administration about the capabilities of the planes' flight control systems, which were later implicated in both crashes.

According to Tuesday's filing, Boeing broke the agreement by "failing to design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations."

The notification follows a string of recent scrutiny into the airline manufacturer, which began in January when a door plug blew off of an Alaska Airlines aircraft shortly after takeoff.

A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found the bolts that secure the door plug were not properly in place.

Families of the victims of the 2018-2019 crashes and their lawyers met with the Justice Department last month to ask the Biden administration to end the 2021 agreement in light of the Alaska Airlines fiasco.

"This is a positive first step, and for the families, a long time coming," attorney Paul Cassell said in response to the DOJ finding. "But we need to see further action from DOJ to hold Boeing accountable, and plan to use our meeting on May 31 to explain in more detail what we believe would be a satisfactory remedy to Boeing's ongoing criminal conduct."