US probes whether Boeing blowout breaches $2.5bn settlement in 2021

A panel blew off the Max 9 plane mid-air and forced an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, just two days before the end of the agreement's three-year term on January 7

US authorities are facing fresh pressure from families of the victims of two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes to criminally prosecute the aerospace company following a January mid-air blowout that exposed ongoing safety issues.

Victims' representatives meeting later this month with US Justice Department officials are expected to say that Boeing violated a 2021 deal with prosecutors to overhaul its compliance programme following crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. That settlement shielded Boeing from criminal prosecution.