Former Boeing pilot indicted for fraud in 737 Max airplane investigation
CBSN
A federal grand jury indicted a former chief technical pilot for Boeing on multiple counts of fraud for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration as it evaluated the company's 737 Max airplane, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. Mark A. Forkner, 49, is also accused of scheming to defraud some of the airline's customers of tens of millions of dollars for Boeing.
"There is no excusing those who deceive safety regulators for the sake of personal gain or commercial expediency," inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation Eric J. Soskin said in a statement Thursday.
Forkner, who was in charge of the 737 Max Flight Technical Team, allegedly provided the FAA's Aircraft Evaluation Group with "materially false, inaccurate and incomplete" information regarding a new software tool for the Boeing 737 Max, according to the prosecution. The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System was designed by the company to better the stability of an airplane, but in 2016, Forkner allegedly discovered an important change to the system without relaying it to federal safety regulators. Because Forkner withheld the updated information, the new tool was not referenced in airplane manuals and pilot-training materials, court documents allege.
