Boeing will plead guilty to criminal fraud over 737 Max crashes

US justice department says proposed deal is for company to pay fine of nearly $250m and invest $455m in improving safety

Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a US criminal fraud charge stemming from the crashes of two 737 Max jetliners, angering the families of the hundreds of passengers killed who had wanted the case to go to trial.

Federal prosecutors had found that the American aircraft manufacturer was in violation of a 2021 agreement struck after the crashes, which had protected it from prosecution for more than three years.