Boeing accepts plea deal to avoid criminal trial over 737 Max crashes

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Max plane crashed on March 11 2019, outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (AP)

Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people after the American government determined the firm had breached an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years, the US justice department has said.

US federal prosecutors gave Boeing the choice last week of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine as part of its sentence or facing a trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.