Former Boeing pilot is indicted in 737 Max inquiry

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a former top pilot for Boeing, Mark Forkner, in connection with statements he and the company made about its troubled 737 Max jet, the culmination of a long investigation. Forkner is accused of deceiving the FAA and of “scheming to defraud Boeing’s U.S.‑based airline customers to obtain tens of millions of dollars for Boeing,” the Justice Department said. Prosecutors contend that Forkner provided the aviation agency with “materially false, inaccurate and incomplete information” about flight control software implicated in two crashes in 2018 and 2019 in which 346 people were killed. That software, known as MCAS (for Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) was designed to push down the plane’s nose in certain situations. “In an attempt to save Boeing money, Forkner allegedly withheld critical information from regulators,” said Chad E. Meacham, the acting US attorney for the Northern District of Texas. “His callous choice to mislead the FAA hampered the agency’s ability to protect the flying public and left pilots in the lurch, lacking information about certain 737 Max flight controls.” Forkner would be the first individual to face criminal charges related to the 737 Max’s problems. <br/>