Boeing's Mounting Scrutiny: Mom Demands Accountability After Deadly Crashes

Nadia Milleron, who lost her daughter in a 2019 Boeing crash, joins 'Fox & Friends' to voice her demands for accountability from the aircraft manufacturer following a series of incidents, including a recent midair door plug blowout.

Nadia Milleron, whose daughter perished in a tragic Boeing crash in 2019, has emerged as a vocal advocate for accountability from the aircraft manufacturer. Following a recent incident involving an Alaska Airlines plane's door plug blowing out mid-flight, she joined 'Fox & Friends' to highlight her concerns and demand that Boeing executives be held responsible for their alleged negligence.

"The executives made these decisions, and they have to be personally accountable. They should be prosecuted, the executives personally, because that is what makes behavior change in Boeing. People have to face...their decisions," Milleron asserted.

Milleron's impassioned appeal comes amidst Boeing's mounting scrutiny for a string of incidents, including two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft that claimed the lives of 346 individuals. One such crash occurred in October 2018, when Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board. Just months later, in March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 met a similar fate, crashing shortly after takeoff and killing all 157 passengers and crew on board.

The repercussions of these tragedies have been profound, prompting a thorough investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of the victims' families. In 2021, the DOJ reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing, a move that has drawn criticism from some family members.

"It was a big corporate probation," lamented Ike Riffel, whose two sons died in the 2019 Ethiopia crash. "It was a backroom deal made in Texas... Boeing has no presence in the state of Texas. We were told as families that there was no criminal investigation into Boeing. And then, out of nowhere, we read in the newspapers about this deferred prosecution agreement."

Despite the deferred prosecution agreement, Milleron claims that Boeing's behavior has not improved. "The blowout in the Alaska Airlines happened...days before the agreement was to expire," she explained. "And so we're bringing all this evidence, all the complaints by pilots of malfunctions in the new planes that they're flying. There are many, many other warning bells beside the blowout. So that was just the biggest one. But there's many other malfunctions, many more warning bells than before our crashes."

As Milleron and other family members prepare to meet with DOJ officials, skepticism lingers over whether these talks will yield significant progress. "I think this is just a box checking exercise for the DOJ," Riffel remarked. "We were found to be crime victims, that's why we're able to challenge this case. And, really, I think it's just a dog and pony show that the DOJ wants to show the judges that they have talked to us."

Nevertheless, Milleron and Riffel remain steadfast in their pursuit of justice and transparency. "What we're really fighting for is justice," Riffel emphasized. "This big prosecution agreement has hid the truth from us, and we will continue to fight until we get to truth. It's been a long battle, and I think it will probably continue to be a long battle, but we will continue to fight this battle until we can find justice."

Milleron's advocacy extends beyond her personal tragedy. She is running for Congress as an Independent candidate in Massachusetts, driven by her determination to protect the public from corporate abuses. "I want to protect regular people from these kind of abuses, because this is not the way that our system and our country is supposed to work," she declared. "These manufacturers are supposed to produce great products, and they can produce great products, and that's what we need to do in our country. But we have to not just allow them to abuse the system that we have."

As the investigation into Boeing's role in these incidents continues, Milleron and other victims' families are determined to hold the company accountable and ensure that such tragedies never occur again. Their unwavering pursuit of justice and transparency serves as a reminder of the human cost of corporate negligence and the importance of holding those responsible to account.