The Wall Street Journal - 14.03.2020 - 15.03.2020

A2| Saturday/Sunday, March 14 - 15, 2020 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. WATCH

PHILADELPHIA

Police Officer Killed

Arresting Fugitive

A Philadelphia police officer

was shot and killed early Friday

as he served a homicide warrant

at a home, and several people

were arrested, including the sub-

ject of the warrant, officials said.

Cpl. James O’Connor, 46 years

old, was shot around 5:45 a.m. in

the city’s Frankford section, offi-

cials said. He was shot in the

shoulder above his bulletproof vest

when officers entered the home,

and two people in the residence

were wounded by return fire from

another officer, officials said.

Several people were arrested,

including Hassan Elliott, a 21-

year-old fugitive wanted in a

robbery and slaying last year not

far from the scene, District At-

torney Larry Krasner’s office said.

Cpl. O’Connor, a married fa-

ther of two including a son who

also serves on the force, had

been a police officer for 23 years

and was with the SWAT unit for

15 years. His daughter serves in

the U.S. Air Force.

—Associated Press

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Bribery Probe Starts

For Chinese Telecom

The Justice Department is in-

vestigating ZTE Corp. for possible

bribes of foreign officials, accord-

ing to people familiar with the

matter, which could subject the

Chinese telecom giant to a fresh

round of criminal penalties amid

increasing tensions between the

U.S. and China.

The probe comes after the

company was found to have vio-

lated a 2017 settlement under

which it pleaded guilty to dodg-

ing U.S. sanctions on Iran. In 2018

a U.S. judge ordered ZTE to un-

dergo another two years of scru-

tiny by a court-appointed moni-

tor, after the company was found

to have failed to take corrective

steps outlined in the 2017 deal.

A Justice Department spokes-

man declined to comment. A ZTE

representative couldn’t be

reached to comment. The com-

pany previously has said it is

committed to meeting its legal

and compliance obligations.

—Aruna Viswanatha

MINNESOTA

Deal Ends St. Paul

School Strike

The St. Paul teachers union

and Minnesota’s second-largest

school district reached a tenta-

tive contract agreement early Fri-

day, ending a strike that began

Tuesday and canceled classes for

some 36,000 students.

The union, which represents

about 3,600 teachers and sup-

port staff, said it was in the

best interest of all involved to

settle the contract, given the un-

certainty of possible school clo-

sures due to the coronavirus.

—Associated Press

VIRGINIA

Judge Denies Bond

For Alleged Neo-Nazi

U.S. Magistrate Theresa Car-

roll Buchanan denied bond to

John C. Denton, an accused neo-

Nazi who prosecutors say

schemed to call in bomb threats

to targets including a former

cabinet official and a predomi-

nantly black Virginia church.

The judge said she was “very

concerned” about the extensive

nature of the conspiracy. Prosecu-

tors say Mr. Denton led a neo-

Nazi group called Atomwaffen Di-

vision, which seeks racial holy war.

—Associated Press

Mr. Forkner’s 2016 messages

and would share its findings

with authorities. Boeing has

faulted flawed engineering as-

sumptions about how pilots

would respond to MCAS cock-

pit emergencies, and it is de-

vising software and training

fixes.

Boeing also must navigate

an end to a civil investigation

by the Securities and Exchange

Commission, one of the people

said, which could allege its dis-

closures to investors didn’t

fully communicate important

facts or risks related to the 737

MAX.

Ms. Klein couldn’t be

reached for comment. Through

an FAA spokesman, Mr.

Schubbe declined to comment.

The spokesman said Ms. Klein,

Mr. Schubbe and their col-

leagues are trained to do highly

specialized jobs in a profes-

sional manner.

Internal Boeing emails from

Mr. Forkner, released over the

past few months, described

said the messages should be

understood as the comments of

employees blowing off steam

“in the ups and downs of their

jobs.”

A Boeing spokesman de-

clined to comment. A Justice

Department spokesman de-

clined to comment.

Mr. Forkner, who at the time

was Boeing’s chief technical pi-

lot for the 737 MAX, persuaded

Ms. Klein’s group to remove

references to MCAS from air-

craft manuals, arguing pilots

didn’t need to know about the

system because it would rarely,

if ever, activate, according to

his emails.

Ms. Klein has been involved

in devising new pilot training

for the modified MCAS system,

but recently went on leave for

a personal reason unrelated to

the criminal investigation and

the MAX, a person familiar

with her testimony said. Aaron

Perkins, a former commercial

pilot who joined the FAA in

2011 and was involved in the

MAX approval process, has

taken over her role vetting

training related to MCAS soft-

ware fixes.

Mr. Perkins has told prose-

cutors he feels Mr. Forkner

misled him and his colleagues

before the plane went into ser-

vice, according to one person

familiar with his statements.

Through an agency spokesman,

Mr. Perkins declined to com-

ment.

In August 2016, Ms. Klein

was among the FAA employees

who participated in test flights

of the MAX, which used the fi-

nal, more powerful version of

MCAS, according to people fa-

miliar with the matter. It

couldn’t be learned whether

those flights involved tests of

MCAS or exposed its potential

hazards. An earlier version of

the system worked only at high

speeds and was less potent.

Mr. Forkner was thrust into

the spotlight last year when it

emerged that in a 2016 instant

message he acknowledged mis-

WELCOME SIGHT: Cherry blossoms have begun to bloom along the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. NEWS

masks never deployed.

The unusual event has

prompted the agency to ana-

lyze whether more-frequent

inspections should be ordered

to check the integrity of the

same part of the fuselage on

similar 737 models.

The FAA analysis doesn’t af-

fect Boeing’s 737 MAX models,

which are newer and currently

grounded around the globe.

Pilots on Southwest Flight

1685 descended to 22,000 feet

from 39,000 feet and continued

safely to their destination.

“The aircraft was able to

maintain a safe cabin pres-

sure,” according to an FAA

statement, adding that the

agency is investigating.

A spokeswoman for South-

west said the plane was taken

out of service and is being re-

paired. “We consistently review

our maintenance programs

based on new information and

continually seek opportunities

to improve our robust safety

practices,” she said.

Southwest has told the FAA

that previously mandated main-

tenance checks found external

cracks on two other 737s in the

same location as with the plane

involved in Monday’s incident,

according to people familiar

with the details. But those

cracks—on top of the plane be-

hind the cockpit—didn’t result

in the kind of cabin decompres-

sion that occurred on the flight

this week, according to infor-

mation the carrier has provided

to FAA inspectors.

Current FAA safety rules re-

quire inspections after every

1,500 flights to look for cracks

on the exterior of that portion

of the fuselage. The jet that

landed safely in Boise was in-

spected roughly 500 flights

before Monday’s incident, ac-

cording to a person familiar

with the details.

Such maintenance checks

for structural problems are

routine safety initiatives

across all airliner models.

The most serious result of

cracks in an aircraft’s body is

a rapid decompression of the

cabin. Such a problem can cre-

ate a hole in the fuselage,

through which, in extreme

cases, passengers can even be

sucked out in flight.

The FAA and Boeing have

been devising enhanced main-

tenance procedures for the

same section of what is called

the crown of 737 jets since

2008. The original safety di-
      rective was replaced by re-
      vised inspection requirements
      in 2016 and again in 2017.
      It is too early to know
      whether the FAA will require
      more-frequent inspections, ac-
      cording to another person fa-
      miliar with the details. Before
      any decision, FAA experts are
      expected to review the service
      and maintenance history—as
      well as the structural integrity
      of certain modifications—af-
      fecting Southwest and other
      U.S. operators of the widely

used 737 models.

In 2016, the FAA’s mainte-

nance order called on airlines

to look for missing or loose

fasteners and laid out other

measures intended to prevent

cracks from spreading.

The 2017 safety directive

said Boeing determined that

the skin of certain 737 models

is subject to widespread metal-

fatigue damage. If the weak-

ness isn’t detected and cor-

rected, according to the FAA, it

could “result in reduced struc-

tural integrity of the airplane.”

U.S. air-safety officials are
investigating potential struc-
tural problems affecting hun-
dreds ofBoeing737 jets fol-
lowing an in-flight incident
that left a 12-inch rupture in
the aluminum skin of aSouth-
west Airlinesplane.
Nobody was hurt on Monday
night’s flight, en route from Las
Vegas to Boise, Idaho, as the
damaged aircraft descended to
a safe altitude and the pilots
landed at their destination, ac-
cording to the carrier and the
Federal Aviation Administra-
tion. The plane’s cabin gradu-
ally lost pressure but it stabi-
lized after pilots descended to a
lower altitude, and oxygen

BYANDYPASZTOR

FAA Probes In-Flight Crack on Southwest Jet

NOTICE TO READERS

The Numbers column

will return next week.

leading regulators. “So I basi-

cally lied to the regulators (un-

knowingly),” Mr. Forkner told a

fellow Boeing pilot, suggesting

he hadn’t known at the time he

talked to the FAA that engi-

neers had modified MCAS to

make it more powerful.

Mr. Gerger has said Mr.

Forkner was discussing the

performance of a simulator

built to mirror the handling of

a 737 Max. Mr. Forkner be-

lieved the problem was with

that simulator, Mr. Gerger has

said, and not with the plane it-

self.

Boeing Chief Executive Da-

vid Calhoun has called Mr.

Forkner’s messages “totally ap-

palling,” while company repre-

sentatives repeatedly have said

his communications contra-

dicted Boeing’s core values and

commitment to safety.

A spokeswoman for South-

west said Mr. Forkner isn’t fo-

cused on MAX-related work

and has complied with com-

pany and federal standards ap-

plicable to pilots.

Over the months, prosecu-

tors have interviewed current

and former Boeing engineers

and pilots, airline pilot-union

officials and various FAA em-

ployees, people familiar with

the matter said. Mr. Forkner’s

former boss, Zekeriya Demir, is

among the other Boeing em-

ployees who have been called

to testify before the grand jury

hearing evidence, the people

said.

Mr. Demir’s testimony hasn’t

been reported. He couldn’t be

reached for comment. The New

York Times previously reported

that prosecutors were gather-

ing grand jury testimony about

whether Mr. Forkner misled

FAA officials.

Boeing has long insisted the

FAA was aware of the system’s

final configuration, which was

described in a letter and a

number of presentations to the

agency, though its revised

power was never flagged to se-

nior managers.

—Alison Sider

contributed to this article.

fraud case on claims that Mr.
Forkner misled regulators
about how a flight-control fea-
ture known as MCAS worked.
Ms. Klein oversaw MAX pilot
manuals and training, while
Mr. Schubbe is a manager in
the FAA office that helps deter-
mine pilot-training require-
ments for new aircraft.
The automated MCAS sys-
tem has been blamed for put-
ting two Boeing 737s into fatal
nosedives within five months,
taking 346 lives, prompting a
grounding of the fleet and cre-
ating the most serious corpo-
rate crisis in Boeing’s history.
A case against Mr. Forkner—
who left Boeing for a job with
Southwest Airlines Co. after
the MAX was certified by the
FAA—could lead to liability for
the Chicago aerospace giant as
well. Prosecutors typically have
grounds to charge a company
for criminal conduct once they
have formally accused an em-
ployee of misconduct.
Mr. Forkner hasn’t cooper-
ated with the investigation, ac-
cording to people familiar with
his situation.
Mr. Forkner’s attorneys, Da-
vid Gerger and Matt Hennessy,
said the FAA was aware of how
MCAS worked.
“As far as Mark goes, he did
his job honestly, and his com-
munications to the FAA were
honest,” Mr. Forkner’s lawyers
said. “As a pilot and Air Force
vet, he would never jeopardize
the safety of other pilots or
their passengers. That is what
any fair investigation would
find.”
Boeing has cooperated with
the federal investigations. It
has said it was investigating
the circumstances surrounding

ContinuedfromPageOne

MAX Case

Centers on

Regulators

Wreckage at the crash scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, in March 2019.

MULUGETA AYENE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The numberof U.S. hospi-
tals and hospital beds declined
12% and 16%, respectively, be-
tween 1975 and 2018. In some
editions Friday, a Page One ar-
ticle about hospitals’ prepara-
tions as coronavirus spreads
incorrectly inverted the per-
centages.

The European Commission
president and European Coun-
cil president said in a state-
ment: “The European Union
disapproves of the fact that the
U.S. decision to impose a travel
ban was taken unilaterally and
without consultation.” A Coro-
navirus Pandemic article Fri-
day about tensions between
the U.S. and the EU incorrectly

quoted the statement as saying

improve rather than impose.

SEC CommissionerHester

Peirce’s last name was mis-

spelled as Pierce in one in-

stance in a Business News arti-

cle Friday about the Securities

and Exchange Commission’s

easing of audit requirements

for some companies.

The S&P 500declined 1%

from the end of 2018 through

Thursday, March 12. In some

editions Friday, a chart show-

ing the index’s performance

with a Business & Finance arti-

cle about the stock market in-

correctly labeled the chart’s

end point as Wednesday.

Readers can alert The Wall Street Journal to any errors in news articles by

[email protected] by calling 888-410-2667.

CORRECTIONSAMPLIFICATIONS

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

(USPS 664-880) (Eastern Edition ISSN 0099-9660)

(Central Edition ISSN 1092-0935) (Western Edition ISSN 0193-2241)

Editorial and publication headquarters:1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036

Published daily except Sundays and general legal holidays.

Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and other mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Wall Street Journal,

200 Burnett Rd., Chicopee, MA 01020.

All Advertising published in The Wall Street Journal is subject to the applicable rate card,

copies of which are available from the Advertising Services Department, Dow Jones & Co. Inc.,

1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036. The Journal reserves the right not to

accept an advertiser’s order. Only publication of an advertisement shall constitute final

acceptance of the advertiser’s order.

Letters to the Editor:Fax: 212-416-2891; email: [email protected]

Need assistance with your subscription?

By web: customercenter.wsj.com; By email: [email protected]

By phone: 1-800-JOURNAL (1-800-568-7625)

Reprints & licensing:

By email: [email protected]

By phone: 1-800-843-

WSJ back issues and framed pages:wsjshop.com

Our newspapers are 100% sourced from sustainably certified mills.

GOT A TIP FOR US? SUBMIT IT AT WSJ.COM/TIPS

pressure he felt from Boeing

superiors in 2016 and 2017 to

persuade the FAA that pilots

wouldn’t need extra ground-

simulator training on MCAS.

Mr. Forkner sent other mes-

sages to Boeing employees in-

dicating that, as part of those

efforts, he misled or provided

incomplete information to the

agency as well as airlines and

foreign regulators. Congressio-

nal investigators, along with

other Boeing critics, have high-

lighted Mr. Forkner’s casual re-

marks regarding safety in those

messages.

Mr. Gerger, the lawyer for

Mr. Forkner, has previously

Boeing has said it

was investigating

Mr. Forkner’s 2016

messages.