Trial Set to Begin in March for Multiple Counts of Wire Fraud

Mark Forkner has the good fortune to see a couple of his charges dismissed as he moves towards trial for his part in the Boeing 737 Max debacle. He stands accused of withholding information from the FAA's Aircraft Evaluation Group regarding the systems on the airplane, ostensibly in an effort to maintain the plane's development timetable. The dismissed charges pertained to allegations that Forkner defrauded the FAA by making and using materially false writing concerning an aircraft part in violation of federal law. 

The presiding Judge, Reed O'Conner, issued a court order to dismiss the charges because Forkner did not in fact make a false report about any part, as it would be defined under law. He is accused of withholding information, but not falsifying it. The information withheld did not exactly pertain to a part, either, being applicable to a software suite that was a new addition to the type. The end result is that manuals for the 737 Max did not include any information on the new systems, which contributed to the infamous series of crashes that killed nearly 350 people. The gist of developer attitudes throughout the certification process is that the less change apparent in the Max, the better, since an aircraft with minimal systems changes would be a far easier sell to airlines provided it didn't require additional training.

Forkner is not entirely out of the woods, however. as he still faces 4 charges for wire fraud. His trial is expected to go through sometime in March. 

FMI: www.justice.gov