SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — Relatives of victims who lost their lives in two Boeing 737 MAX jet crashes want to re-open a settlement that protected the American aircraft manufacturer from criminal prosecution although it was revealed that the company misled federal safety regulators during type certification of the plane.



To this end, several family members and their lawyers held a video meeting on Jan 26 with Attorney General Merrick Garland. They said the U.S. Justice Department breached federal laws by finalizing the settlement in January 2021 without informing them two weeks before as the law mandates.

The victim's relatives asked Garland to support their legal argument.

346 people were killed in two 737 MAX crashes, first in Indonesia in 2018, and another five months later in Ethiopia. After the accidents, all 737 MAX jets around the world were grounded by civil aviation regulators for nearly two years. The aircraft type has recently been cleared to fly again after Boeing fixed an automated flight-control system called MCAS that caused both crashes.