Forkner Mark (Mark Forkner)

Forkner Mark (Mark Forkner)

Biography

2021: Arrest in connection with concealment of information about defective software for Boeing 737 Max

On October 14, 2021, the US Department of Justice announced the indictment of the arrested Boeing chief technical pilot Mark Forkner, accusing him of concealing vital safety information and affirmative deception of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during the certification of the 737 Max model. The case against Forkner was the first time a person, not a company, was charged with disasters. The department said Forkner lied to the authorities in the name of the financial well-being of the company.

The charges brought against 49-year-old Mark Forkner include two counts of fraud with aviation details in interstate commerce and four counts of wire fraud. He's due in federal court in Fort Worth. The most serious federal charge against Forkner provides for a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Trying to save Boeing money, Forkner allegedly hid important information from regulators. His heartless choice to mislead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prevented the agency from protecting the flight public and left pilots in a difficult position without information about some elements of the 737 MAX flight control, said Chad Meacham, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

The indictment states that Forkner led the 737 Max Flight technical team and was required to provide the FAA with accurate and complete information about the differences between this aircraft and another version of the 737. According to federal prosecutors, at the end of 2016, Forkner discovered information about an important change made to part of the aircraft's flight control system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Supplement System (MCAS). He allegedly decided not to share this information with the FAA. As a result, the training manual on which pilots were taught to maneuver this model of the aircraft did not contain information critical to understanding.

The indictment on October 14, 2021 provides an exchange of views between Forkner and his colleague, which occurred after Forkner sent the 737 Max on a simulated test flight in November 2016. In this simulation, the automated MCAS system worked at a much lower speed than Forkner and Boeing told the FAA. This meant that it would work more often, which would require expensive simulator training for economical airlines.

Mark Forkner withheld the significant fact that MCAS can now operate in almost the entire speed range for the 737 MAX. After the FAA sent out a report on training requirements for the Max plane, Forkner told agency officials that the pilot manual did not need to mention MCAS, according to a federal indictment.^[1]

Notes