WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 - Reuters - A former Boeing Co technical pilot accused of deceptive federal regulators regarding the company's 737 MAX jet was charged with fraud and was released, pleaded not guilty and is accused by the U.S. Attorney's Office in northern Texas.
Mark Forkner, 49, was indicted for six counts of conspiracy to defraud American Airways customers in Texas by soliciting tens of millions from Boeing's U.S. customers to obtain the plane maker.
According to the indictment, Forkner provided FAA Aircraft Evaluation Group with materially false, inaccurate and incomplete information about a new part of the flight controls for the Boeing 737 MAX called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System MCAS The MCAS, a software feature designed to automatically push the airplane s nose down in certain conditions, was related to two fatal crashes of the 737 MAX over a five-month period that killed 346 people. The FAA lifted the plane for 19 months, an action that was grounded in November 2020.
A lawyer for Forkner said he was not responsible and should not have been charged for the two fatal crashes.
If the government takes this case to trial, the truth will show that David Gerger did not cause this tragedy, he did not lie, and he should not be charged, Forkner lawyer Mark said in a statement.
Gerger called on people who worked at Boeing, the FAA or an airline to help the truth come out. Boeing and the FAA declined to comment.
In January Boeing agreed to pay https: www.reuters.ca. com article boeing -737 max-justice - int boeing-to pay $2.5 billion to settle-u prosecution-by_examines-into - 737 - max-crashes - idUSKBN 29 D 07 Q more than $30 billion in fines and compensation after reaching a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department over the MAX crashes cost Boeing more than $20 billion