Boeing's board has to face a lawsuit from its shareholders over the 737 Max crashes, a judge ruled, saying it 'ignored' problems with the planes

An investigator with the U.S. National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) looks over debris at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 on March 12, 2019 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia.

Jemal Countess/Getty Images

• 346 people were killed in two Boeing 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
• Boeing shareholders can go ahead with a lawsuit against its board over the crashes, a judge ruled.
• Boeing said it was "disappointed" with the decision.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

A judge ruled that Boeing's board of directors must face a lawsuit from its shareholders over the two fatal crashes of its 737 Max planes that killed 346 people.

Delaware judge Morgan Zurn ruled on Tuesday that shareholders can pursue some of their claims against Boeing's board, though she dismissed some of their other claims, Reuters reported.

She also said Boeing had ignored problems with the plane after the first crash, by a Lion Air jet in Indonesia in October 2018, which killed all 189 people on board.

She said the first crash was showed a "red flag" about a key safety system on the planes "that the board should have heeded but instead ignored," Reuters reported.

A second plane, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, then crashed in March 2019, killing all 157 on board.

737 Max planes were then grounded around the world, though they have since been adjusted, re-inspected, and returned to service in the US.

Zurn also said that Boeing "publicly lied about if and how it monitored the 737 Max's safety."

Boeing said it was "disappointed in the court's decision to allow the plaintiffs' case to proceed past this preliminary stage of litigation. We will review the opinion closely over the coming days as we consider next steps," according to Reuters.

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