On Thursday, 14 October 2021, the American Justice System indicted Mark Forkner, a former Boeing test pilot, on several charges. He faces up to 100 years in prison.
Forkner deliberately provided false, inaccurate and incomplete information to the U.S. the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in order to obtain certification of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) installed on the fourth generation 737 family. The test pilot succeeded in leading the FAA astray. The aircraft was approved in 2017.
In October 2018, a Lion Air 737 MAX crashed. Six months later, a second air crash involved an Ethiopian Airlines plane of the same model. The death toll for both accidents reached 346 people.
Due to these tragedies, the Boeing 737 MAX was banned from the air until the end of 2020. The manufacturer had to make improvements to its medium-haul aircraft, in particular to the MCAS, to be allowed to fly again. It has also acknowledged its responsibility in this matter and paid nearly 2.5 billion USD to discharge certain lawsuits.
The Boeing 737 MAX crisis [4] has affected several customers and subcontractors. It has generated a record loss for aviation insurance.