It has been proven that the board of directors lied about whether and how they monitored the safety of the 737 MAX, the verdict on Tuesday said.
The first of the two crashes was a warning regarding an error in the MCAS security system, which the corporate management should have taken into account, but instead ignored.
The fact that operational management knowingly failed can also be seen in the fact that at the time it stated that it had taken certain measures to monitor security, which in reality had not been carried out.
The then Boeing director and current company boss Dave Calhoun had testified that the group management was informed “immediately and by and large” after the first crash of a Lion Air plane and then met “very, very quickly”.
Even after the second crash – an Ethiopian Airlines machine – the corporate management met within 24 hours of the accident to discuss a possible flight ban on the 737 MAX. “Each of Calhoun’s representations was wrong,” said the court decision.
Boeing was initially unavailable for comment. A total of 346 people were killed in the crashes. The 737 MAX was banned from flights by the US aviation authority FAA and can now take off again under strict conditions after an overhaul.