Episode 212: DOJ Returns Indictment Against Former Boeing Chief Technical Pilot for 737 MAX Safety Scandal

The Justice Department announced the indictment of Mark Forkner, a former Chief Technical Pilot for Boeing for his role in the 737 MAX scandal. Specifically, Forkner is charged with deceiving the FAA’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (“FAA AEG”) relating to Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane and defrauding Boeings U.S.-based airline customers to earn millions of dollars for Boeing.

Boeing’s 737 MAX scandal is tragic and disturbing. In January 2021, Boeing settled with the Justice Department and agreed to enter into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement in exchange for total payments of $2.5 billion. As you will recall, Boeing’s 737 Max was involved in two crashes in 2018 and 2019 before being grounded. 

In October 2018, Lion Air flight 610 crashed in the Java Sea, killing 189 people, and in March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 157 people. The United States ordered the planes grounded shortly after the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the criminal indictment against Mark Forner and his role in the Boeing 737 MAX scandal.