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A U.S. federal grand jury on Thursday charged a former Boeing chief test pilot with misleading aviation regulators during the 737 Max certification process, which involved two fatal crashes.
Mark Forkner, 49, was a key link between the aviation giant and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on how to train pilots to fly. Planes.
Forkner provided the agency with materially incorrect, inaccurate and incomplete information about the new part of flight control. Boeing The Justice Department said in a statement that the 737 Max Flight Handling System, also known as the Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), was responsible for the 2018 and 2019 accidents.
According to court documents, Forkner discovered information about a major change to the MCAS in 2016 that was supposed to stop, but deliberately chose not to share details with the FAA. ۔
As a result, the FAA did not include the MCAS reference in any important document or, consequently, in the pilot training manual.
Forkner is also accused of conspiring against Boeing customers who intercepted important information and bought 737 Max aircraft.
According to documents published in early 2020, he prides himself on being able to deceive his FAA contacts in order to obtain certification for MCAS.
The 737 MAX was officially certified in March 2017, but remained grounded worldwide for 20 months after two. Crash A total of 346 people were killed in October 2018 and March 2019.
In both cases, the MCAS operated amok based on incorrect information transmitted by one of the aircraft’s two sensors.
Once the MCAS software was modified, Max was allowed to fly again in late 2020.
Boeing has acknowledged its responsibility to mislead regulators and has agreed to pay more than 2.5 2.5 billion to settle lawsuits.
Forkner was formally charged Thursday by a grand jury in Texas with two counts of aircraft parts fraud and four counts of wire fraud.
If convicted, he could face up to 100 years in prison.
“Forkner allegedly withheld important information from regulators,” said Chad Macham, Texas federal prosecutor.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate fraud - especially in industries where the stakes are high.”
Boeing did not respond to a request for comment.
(AFP)
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