DoJ Criminal Investigation: Boeing Test Pilot Lawyers Up, Takes the 5th

barbara hudson writes:

I know, yet another Boeing story. But it's like herpes - the gift that keeps on giving.

The same day that Boeing CEO Muilenburg crashed and burned as Boeing CEO, the criminal investigation into Boeing heated up, with Boeing's test pilot hiring criminal lawyers and refusing to turn over documents to the Department of Justice under the 5th amendment, saying in effect that turning them over "may tend to incriminate him."

The embattled US aircraft maker Boeing has reportedly sent US regulators "troubling communications" related to the development of the 737 MAX - on the same day that the CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, was forced to step aside.

According to a senior Boeing executive, the documents include new messages from Mark Forkner, a senior company test pilot who complained of "egregious" erratic behavior in flight simulator tests of Boeing's MCAS anti-stall system, and referred to "Jedi mind tricks" to persuade regulators to approve the plane.

The executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Seattle Times that the Forkner communications contain the same kind of "trash talking" about Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) regulators as the earlier messages released in October.

So what would make Forkner, the test pilot, lawyer up?

Forkner, meanwhile, has reportedly hired his own criminal defense lawyers and invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid turning over records to the Department of Justice, which has opened a criminal inquiry into the company's handling of the 737 Max's development.

It was Forkner who requested that information about MCAS be omitted from flight manuals and pilot training, rendering the pilots of both the doomed Lion Air and Ethiopian flights helpless when the system kicked in, pushing the plane's nose down repeatedly until they ultimately lost control.

But the timing of the latest information release is likely to increase anger surrounding Boeing's handling of the crisis, even as a new CEO, David Calhoun, takes the reins early next year.

[Ed Note - Emphasis added by submitter]

Read more of this story at SoylentNews.