NEW YORK – Federal prosecutors are preparing to indict a former Boeing test pilot suspected of misleading aviation regulators over the safety issues blamed for two fatal 737 MAX crashes, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Mark Forkner was the lead contact between the aviation giant and the United States Federal Aviation Administration over how pilots should be trained to fly the planes, it said.
According to documents published early last year, Forkner withheld details about the planes’ faulty flight handling system known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) – later blamed for both crashes – from regulators.
The 737 MAX was formally certified in March 2017 but was grounded worldwide for 20 months following two crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 that killed 346 people.
The 737 MAX was allowed to fly again at the end of last year, once the MCAS software was modified.
Boeing has acknowledged its responsibility in misleading regulators and agreed to pay more than US$2.5 billion (RM10.43 billion) to settle certain lawsuits.
Neither the United States Justice Department nor Forkner’s lawyer responded to requests for comment.
The Wall Street Journal said it was not clear what charges Forkner will face. – AFP, September 17, 2021
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