Mark A. Forkner, Boeing’s former Chief Technical pilot, has been indicted for fraud by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Texas. He is charged with deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG) in connection with its evaluation of Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft. The complaint alleges Forkner provided the agency with “materially false, inaccurate, and incomplete information about the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS)”, which, because of his alleged deception, a key document published by the FAA AEG lacked any reference to MCAS. In turn, airplane manuals and pilot-training materials also lacked any reference to MCAS.
“Forkner allegedly abused his position of trust by intentionally withholding critical information about MCAS during the FAA evaluation and certification of the 737 MAX and from Boeing’s US‑based airline customers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “In doing so, he deprived airlines and pilots from knowing crucial information about an important part of the airplane’s flight controls.”
“In an attempt to save Boeing money, Forkner allegedly withheld critical information from regulators,” added Acting US Attorney Chad E. Meacham 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 allegedly withheld crucial information about the Boeing 737 MAX and deceived the FAA, showing blatant disregard for his responsibilities and the safety of airline customers and crews,” said Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI.
“There is no excusing those who deceive safety regulators for the sake of personal gain or commercial expediency,” said Inspector General Eric J. Soskin of the US Department of Transportation
According to court documents, Boeing began developing and marketing the 737 MAX in and around June 2011. The FAA AEG was responsible for determining the minimum level of pilot training required for a pilot to fly the 737 MAX, based on the nature and extent of the differences between the MAX and its predecessor 737NG. As Boeing’s 737 MAX Chief Technical Pilot, Forkner led the 737 MAX Flight Technical Team and was responsible for providing the FAA AEG with true, accurate, and complete information about differences between the 737 MAX and the 737 NG for the FAA AEG’s evaluation, preparation, and publication of the 737 MAX FSB Report.
In and around November 2016, the indictment alleges that Forkner discovered information about an important change to MCAS which he allegedly intentionally withheld from the FAA AEG. Following the fatal crash of Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018 near Jakarta, the FAA AEG discovered the MCAS was a potential cause of the accident and only then discovered the information about the important change to MCAS and began reviewing and evaluating the system. The FAA AEG was still reviewing MCAS on March 10, 2019 when the second MAX aircraft – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 – fatally crashed near Ejere, Ethiopia, shortly after takeoff. Shortly after that crash, all 737 MAX airplanes were grounded in the United States.
Forkner is charged with two counts of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce and four counts of wire fraud. He is expected to make his initial court appearance today in Fort Worth, Texas. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison on each count of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Certain text messages sent by Forkner were made public in 2019 that showed an exchange in 2016 on the subject of the MCAS that indicated it wasn’t working in line with what he had previously told regulators, and that he had told regulators to delete any reference to the MCAS.
Neither Boeing nor the FAA have issued any public statement on the indictment.