Federal grand juries indicted a Boeing pilot who participated in the testing of the 737 Max jetliner. They were investigating whether the pilot deceived safety regulators while evaluating the plane. The plane was then involved in two fatal crashes.
Indictment charges Mark A Forkner with providing false and incomplete information to the Federal Aviation Administration about an automated flight control system that was involved in the fatalities of 346 people.
Prosecutors claimed that Forkners' deception caused the system to be absent from key FAA documents, manuals and pilot-training materials supplied to airlines.
Max jets that crashed in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019 were automatically brought down by the flight-control system. Pilots attempted unsuccessfully to regain control but both planes crashed within minutes of taking off.
The maneuvering characteristics enhancement system was not known to most pilots until the first crash.
Forkner, 49 was charged with two counts fraud involving parts of aircraft in interstate commerce as well as four counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors stated that Forkner was scheduled to appear in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday. He could be sentenced to up to 100 years imprisonment if he is convicted of all charges.
Boeing created the Max to be more fuel efficient than the old 737 and could compete with Airbus' European counterpart. The Max was designed to fly like other 737s, despite the tendency of the nose to tip upward under certain circumstances.
The Congressional Investigators suggested that Boeing and Forkner downplayed power to avoid the requirement that pilots undergo expensive and extensive retraining. This would increase airline costs.
Chad Meacham was the acting US attorney in the northern district. He said that Forkner tried to save Boeing money and withheld critical information from regulators.
Meacham stated in a statement that Meacham's ineptness in misleading the FAA hampered its ability to protect the flying public. Pilots were left in the dark, without information about certain 737 Max flight controls.
Boeing, based in Chicago, agreed to a $2.5bn settlement. This was to close a criminal investigation by the Justice Department into the company's actions. Boeing claimed that its employees misled regulators regarding the safety of Max in the settlement it reached last year. The settlement provided compensation for the families of those who were killed in the crashes and money for airlines that purchased the plane.
Numerous passengers' families are suing Boeing in Chicago federal court.
