Families 'livid, furious' over Boeing plea deal in crash cases

"They're furious. They're so disappointed," Ed Pierson said. "People call it a sweetheart deal. I call it a pathetic deal. The families just want justice."

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- In a stunning development over the weekend, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to criminal fraud related to two crashes that killed nearly 350 people in 2018 and 2019.

But Ed Pierson, a former Boeing manager turned whistleblower, told KOIN 6 News the victim's families are "livid" over the deal.

He regularly talks to families whose loved ones died on the Lion Air and Ethiopian flights more than 5 years ago as part of this advocacy work through the Foundation for Aviation Safety.

"They're furious. They're so disappointed," Pierson said. "People call it a sweetheart deal. I call it a pathetic deal. The families just want justice. They just want an investigation into what happened and the truth and who knew what and when."

The last-minute deal Boeing agreed to before their criminal trial was about to start included the company paying a $243 million fine, investing $455 million in safety and allowing an outside independent monitor is not sitting well with the victim's families.

If approved by the judge, the deal won't hold any current or former Boeing execs criminally liable for the deadly crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets.

But the manufacturer remains under heavy scrutiny following the door plug blowout from a Portland-based Alaska Air flight in January.

"These are clear warning bells that the quality of the airplanes is not sound," Pierson said. "The rush to produce, we're starting to see the ramifications of that terrible logic."

Last month Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun testified to Congress that changes are already underway.

"Our culture is far from perfect. But we are taking action and we are making progress," Calhoun said on June 18.

How -- or if -- that progress truly shakes out could define the future of one of the Pacific Northwest's most prominent businesses.

A Texas judge will hold a hearing on the plea agreement, but that date is not yet set.

Next month the National Transportation Safety Board is holding more hearings in DC around the blowout on the Alaska Air flight. That incident remains under criminal investigation.