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A grand jury in the United States has indicted a former chief test pilot for the multinational Boeing for lying to federal regulators about the 737 MAX aircraft, a model involved in two accidents that left 346 dead in 2018 and 2019. Mark Forkner, 49, was indicted in federal court in Texas for allegedly misleading the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during the 737 MAX evaluation and certification process, according to a statement from the Department. of Justice.
Specifically, the pilot would have hidden information about the automatic stabilization system, known as MCAS in its acronym in English; considered to be responsible for the two air accidents. The first 737 MAX fell in October 2018 in Indonesia, while the second fell in March 2019 in Ethiopia; two accidents that caused the global grounding of all aircraft of this model.
Acting US Attorney for the North Texas Federal District, Chad Meacham, claimed that, “in an attempt to save Boeing money, Forkner allegedly withheld critical information from regulators.” “His callous decision to mislead the FAA affected the agency’s ability to protect the flying public and left pilots high and dry, with no information on certain 737 MAX flight controls,” he added.
According to the indictment, at the end of 2016, Forkner was aware of changes in the MCAS system of the 737 MAX compared to previous models, but decided not to share them with the FAA. As a consequence, the instruction manual for the pilots did not include information necessary to maneuver the aircraft. In total, Forkner is charged with six counts of fraud, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.
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