The families of victims who were killed in two separate Boeing 737 MAX plane crashes are seeking a criminal prosecution and a fine of $US24.78 billion ($37.1 billion) against the aerospace company.
In a letter to the Justice Department released on Wednesday, the families' lawyer Paul Cassel wrote that a maximum fine of more than $US24 billion is "legally justified and clearly appropriate" because "Boeing's crime is the deadliest corporate crime in US history".
Mr Cassel is representing 15 families across the two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
In October 2018, all 189 passengers on a Lion Air flight died after the plane plunged into the Java Sea.
Just a few months later in March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed and killed all 157 on board.
Both crashes were linked to a safety system called MCAS and led to the best-selling plane's worldwide grounding for 20 months.
In the letter, the families said the Justice Department could potentially suspend $US14 billion to $US22 billion of the fine "on the condition that Boeing devote those suspended funds to an independent corporate monitor and related improvements in compliance and safety."
The Justice Department said in May it determined Boeing violated a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement that shielded the company from a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit fraud arising from the fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
Last week, Boeing told the government it did not violate the agreement.
Federal prosecutors have until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of their plans, which could be proceeding with a criminal case or negotiating a plea deal with Boeing.
The Justice Department could also extend the deferred prosecution agreement for a year.
Justice Department officials found that Boeing violated the deferred prosecution agreement after a panel blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX in January, just two days before the 2021 agreement expired.
The incident exposed continued safety and quality issues at Boeing.
In the letter, the families also said Boeing's board of directors should be ordered to meet with them and the department should "launch criminal prosecutions of the responsible corporate officials at Boeing at the time of the two crashes."
Boeing and the Justice Department did not immediately comment.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Tuesday.
"There is near overwhelming evidence in my view as a former prosecutor that prosecution should be pursued,' he said at the hearing.
At the hearing, US senators attacked the CEO of Boeing for the planemaker's tarnished safety record.
"I am proud of every action we have taken," Mr Calhoun said in response to questioning from Republican senator Josh Hawley who asked why he hadn't resigned and accused Mr Calhoun of "strip-mining" Boeing while earning a multi-million-dollar pay package.
Reuters/ABC
