VOA慢速英语2024--Boeing Admits Guilt in Two Deadly Plane Crashes

Boeing Admits Guilt¹ in Two Deadly Plane Crashes

American company Boeing will admit to criminal charges of wrongdoing linked to two deadly passenger jet crashes. The aerospace² manufacturer will also pay a fine of $243.6 million.

The U.S. Department of Justice said late Sunday that the company had violated an agreement that had protected it from legal action for three years.

The two crashes of Boeing 737 MAX airliners³ killed 346 people in a five-month period from 2018 to 2019.

Government lawyers gave Boeing the choice of entering a guilty plea and paying the fine or facing a trial. If the trial had taken place, Boeing would have faced felony charges of criminal conspiracy⁴ to defraud⁵ the United States.

The government, which approved the airplane and the pilot training required for it, charged Boeing with lying. A federal judge still must approve the deal before it can go into effect.

In addition to the plea and fine, the government will name an independent monitor to supervise Boeing’s safety and quality methods for three years. The company must also spend at least $455 million on compliance⁶ and safety programs.

The deal only covers the wrongdoing by Boeing before the crashes. The Justice Department said it does not protect Boeing from recent dangerous incidents in which, for example, a panel of a plane came off during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

The deal only affects the company and not current or former Boeing officials. The company confirmed it had reached a deal with the government but had no other comment.

The complete written agreement is expected to be presented to the federal court by July 19.

Families of some of the people who died on the flights criticized the deal. Paul Cassell is a lawyer for some of the families. He said, “This sweetheart deal fails to recognize that because of Boeing’s conspiracy, 346 people died.” A group of the families is asking the government to seek a fine of nearly $25 billion.

The company’s guilty plea will be entered in a U.S. District Court in the southwestern state of Texas. Judge Reed O’Connor has called Boeing’s behavior “egregious⁷ criminal conduct.”

Two crashes

The case involves two crashes. One took place in Indonesia and the other in Ethiopia. Investigators⁸ said the pilots in the Lion Air crash did not know about flight-control software that would affect control of the airplane. The pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines crash knew about the software but were still unable to control the plane.

The software is called the Maneuvering⁹ Characteristics Augmentation System. Boeing designed it to cause the airplane’s nose to point down under a certain set of flight conditions. The software aimed to save money by reducing the amount of training time pilots needed to use the system. The software is used in 737 MAX airplanes and did not exist on earlier aircraft.

The Justice Department charged Boeing in 2021 with lying to Federal Aviation Administration officials about the software. Under a deal at the time, the government did not bring charges if the company paid a $2.5 billion settlement, which included a fine of $243.6 million. Boeing was also required to meet the requirements of anti-fraud laws for three years.

Boeing blamed two low-level employees for misleading government officials. The government charged a former company official. In 2022, a jury found a former Boeing chief technical pilot not guilty in connection with the company’s wrongdoing.

After the crashes, the government grounded or halted all flights of the 737 MAX airplanes involved for about 20 months.

Boeing is based in Arlington, Virginia, although the 737 MAX aircraft are built in the state of Washington.

Words in This Story

plea –n. a statement of innocence¹⁰ or guilt presented to a court of law

felony –n. a serious crime

conspiracy –n. a secret plan by two or more people to do something harmful or illegal

monitor –n. a person who observes an activity, often to make sure rules or laws are not broken

egregious –adj. easily seen or noticed; very bad

conduct –n. behavior

1 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

2 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

3 airliners   

n.客机，班机( airliner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The fog grounded the airliners. 大雾迫使班机停飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They placed very stable and accurate atomic clocks on regularly scheduled jet airliners. 他们将非常稳定、准确的原子钟装在定期飞行的喷气式班机上。 来自辞典例句

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 defraud   

vt.欺骗，欺诈

参考例句：

• He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。
• He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。

6 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

7 egregious   

adj.非常的，过分的

参考例句：

• When it comes to blatant lies,there are none more egregious than budget figures.谈到公众谎言，没有比预算数字更令人震惊的。
• What an egregious example was here!现摆着一个多么触目惊心的例子啊。

8 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

10 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。