The trial of Mark Forkner, Boeing’s former chief technical pilot on the 737 MAX, got underway in Fort Worth last week with prosecutors claiming he lied to regulators about the significance of changes to the flight control system and his defense alleging he’s being scapegoated. Forkner is the only person to face criminal charges resulting from investigations into Boeing and the FAA’s handling of the certification of the MAX, two of which crashed, killing 346 people. Forkner was a main point of contact between the company and the agency during much of the certification process and the implementation of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System into the jet’s flight control system. He has pleaded not guilty to four fraud charges. He originally faced six charges but two were dropped.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/boeing-technical-pilots-trial-under-way