Former Boeing test pilot found not guilty of deceiving FAA

A jury in Texas has found a former Boeing test pilot not guilty of deceiving federal regulators about a key flight-control system on the Boeing 737 Max jetliner

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A former Boeing Co. test pilot was acquitted Wednesday on felony charges of deceiving federal regulators about a key flight-control system that played a role in two deadly crashes involving 737 Max jets.

A jury in federal district court in Fort Worth deliberated less than two hours before finding Mark Forkner not guilty on four counts of wire fraud.

Prosecutors accused Forkner of misleading Federal Aviation Administration regulators about the amount of training pilots would need to fly the Max. The FAA required only brief computer-based training for pilots instead of more extensive practice in simulators that could have cost Boeing up to $1 million per plane.

Defense lawyers said Boeing engineers did not tell Forkner about changes to the flight software, known by its acronym, MCAS. They told jurors that Forkner was a scapegoat for Boeing and FAA officials who sought to avoid blame after Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people.