According to the BBC, Delaware judge Morgan Zurn said the first crash was a "red flag" about a key safety system on the aircraft "that the board should have heeded but instead ignored".

Boeing reportedly said it would "consider next steps". 

In her ruling, Zurn said: "While it may seem callous in the face of [the families’] losses, corporate law recognizes another set of victims: Boeing as an enterprise, and its stockholders.

"Stockholders have come to this court claiming Boeing’s directors and officers failed them in overseeing mission-critical airplane safety to protect enterprise and stockholder value."

The crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 killed all 346 people onboard, leading to the 737 Max being grounded around the world. Investigations later found a flaw in an automated flight control system, known as MACS, was at fault.

In January, Boeing paid $2.5bn to settle criminal charges it concealed information about changes to MCAS from safety officials, contributing to the crashes.

A Boeing spokesperson reportedly said: "We are 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."

The Max was cleared to fly in the US in November 2020, and in Europe and Canada in January this year. It remains grounded in China.