Boeing strikes $1.1 billion deal with Justice Department over deadly 737 Max crashes—and must pay $445 million to victims’ families

The Justice Department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the airplane giant to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court papers filed Friday.

Under the “agreement in principle” that still needs to be finalized, Boeing would pay and invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for the crash victims’ families, the Justice Department said.