Boeing Company Overview and Legal Background
The Boeing Company, which had been the world’s leader, is now the second largest airline manufacturer in the world behind Airbus. According to government statistics, Boeing aircraft have been involved in nearly 6,000 aviation accidents and incidents worldwide. Of those, 415 were fatal accidents, resulting in over 9,000 deaths.
On March 21, 2022, a Boeing 737-800 plane operating as China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crashed in southern China. Authorities say the plane began losing altitude at 30,000 feet then entered a steep nosedive and crashed into terrain —
Read our blog for more details
After two devastating commercial plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, The Boeing Company paid more than $2.5 billion for defrauding the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The total resolution included a criminal penalty of $243.6 million. Another $1.7 billion was allocated for airlines that purchased 737 MAX aircraft to make up for lost revenue when the aircraft was grounded during a lengthy investigation. The remaining $500 million went into a fund to help compensate the families of those killed in the
Lion Air Flight 610 crash in 2018 and the
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash in 2019.
Boeing issued an apology for the crashes. Former CEO Dennis Muilenburg admitted that the automated flight control system on the two
737 MAX aircraft played a role in the tragedies. According to Muilenburg, “it’s apparent that in both flights the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, known as MCAS, activated in response to erroneous angle of attack information.”
Boeing Legal Accountability and Deferred Prosecution
In November of 2021, Boeing agreed to acknowledge responsibility for the ET302 crash in lawsuits filed by surviving families.
Under the agreement, Boeing admitted that the “737 MAX had an unsafe condition, and that it will not attempt to blame anyone else" for the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash.
Boeing and the United States government secretly negotiated a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) without input from the families of the victims of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. The purpose of the DPA, apparently, is to allow Boeing to get away with its apparently criminal neglect of its responsibility to ensure its airplanes are safe, without severe criminal penalties. Families of victims are challenging the DPA pursuant to the provisions of the Crime Victims Rights Act, and demanding that they be heard, and their views considered, before a court agrees to the proposed agreement.
Aviation attorneys from the national law firm of Wisner Baum represented several families who lost loved ones in the Lion Air JT610 crash and the ET302 crash and support the effort to demand effective criminal sanctions for the failure of Boeing to prioritize safety over profits, resulting in the deaths of 346 people.
“Boeing could have and should have communicated known safety issues to the FAA, but they didn’t. Hundreds of people died because Boeing chose profit over people.”
– Aviation Attorney Clay Robbins III
Investigations and Safety Record
Investigations into these preventable tragedies noted that Boeing has a “disturbing pattern of technical miscalculations and troubling management misjudgments” relating to its safety record on the 737 MAX aircraft. While the 737 MAX litigation may seem like an outlier, the truth is Boeing aircraft have been involved in numerous aviation accidents and incidents over the years.
Wisner Baum aviation attorneys have represented hundreds of claimants in lawsuits against Boeing. If you are interested in vindicating your legal rights, please
contact us
or call (310) 207-3233 today. We offer free and confidential case evaluations.
Aviation Accident Attorneys | Lawsuits Involving Boeing Aircraft
Boeing Commercial Plane Models
| Model |
Total Built |
Capacity |
First Flight |
Variants (Previous and Current) |
| 737 |
10,478 |
85–215 |
1967 |
737-100, 737-200, 737-300, 737-400, 737-500, 737-600, 737-700, 737-800, 737-900, 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9, 737 MAX 10 |
| 747 |
1,548 |
467–605 |
1969 |
747-100, 747SR, 747-100B, 747SP, 747-200, 747-300, 747-400, 747 LCF, 747-8 |
| 767 |
1,135 |
180–375 |
1981 |
767-200, 767-2C, 767-200ER, 767-300, 767-300ER, 767-300F, 767-400ER |
| 777 |
1,584 |
301–550 |
1994 |
777-200, 777-200ER, 777-200LR, 777-300, 777-300ER, 777 Freighter, 777X |
| 787 |
789 |
210–330 |
2009 |
787-8, 787-9, 787-10, BBJ 787 |
Boeing Accident Statistics
| Model |
Fatal Events |
| Boeing 737 (All Models) |
83 |
| Boeing 727 |
51 |
| Boeing 747-100 / 200 / 300 / SP |
26 |
| Boeing 757 |
9 |
| Boeing 767 |
6 |
| Boeing 737 MAX 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 |
2 |
| Boeing 747-400 |
2 |
Which Airlines Fly Boeing MAX Planes?
| Airline |
Plane |
In Fleet |
To Be Delivered |
| 9 Air |
MAX 8 |
1 |
3 |
| Aeromexico |
MAX 8, MAX 9 |
18 |
10 |
| Air Canada |
MAX 8 |
28 |
11 |
| China Southern Airlines |
MAX 8 |
24 |
25 |
| Turkish Airlines |
MAX 8, MAX 9 |
24 |
1 |
Boeing Accident Attorneys with Decades of Experience
Aviation attorneys from Wisner Baum have the experience needed to prevail in cases against major aircraft manufacturers like Boeing. Since 1985, our firm has represented more than 800 commercial aircraft passengers and crew members. We are the first U.S. law firm to win a public apology from an airline following a plane crash. Across all areas of practice, the firm has won more than $4 billion in verdicts and settlements.
Any legal action against a major aviation company requires representation that is up to the task. As our track record demonstrates, we know what it takes to win big cases against big companies.
Call (310) 207-3233 or contact us today to speak with our legal team.
