Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have disclosed that some titanium Boeing 787 Dreamliner parts were improperly manufactured over the past three years, according to a media report. The parts were supplied by Italian aerospace manufacturer Leonardo, and these were bought from Italy-based Manufacturing Processes Specifications, Reuters reported citing Boeing. Parts affected include fittings that help secure the floor beam in one fuselage section, and other fittings, spacers, brackets, and clips within other assemblies. FAA says the immediate safety of flights are not affected, according to the report. Reuters cites Boeing as saying that undelivered aircraft will be reworked as needed and any fleet actions would be determined through its normal review process and confirmed with the FAA.

Former Boeing chief 737 technical pilot Mark Forkner has been accused of abusing his position to deceive the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during its evaluation and certification of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft. Forkner, who led the 737 Max flight technical team, is charged with "scheming to defraud Boeing's US-based airline customers to obtain tens of millions of dollars for Boeing", the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement dated 14 October. He allegedly withheld critical information from the FAA Aircraft Evaluation Group (AEG) in its evaluation of the aircraft type, specifically Boeing's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight controls. Court documents indicate that Boeing began developing and marketing the 737 Max in and around June 2011, according to the DOJ. In his role, Forkner was "responsible for providing the FAA AEG with true, accurate, and complete information about differences between the 737 Max and [its previous version] the 737NG for the FAA AEG’s evaluation, preparation, and publication of the 737 Max FSB [Flight Standardization Board] Report". All USA-based airlines were required to use the information in the 737 Max FSB Report as the basis for training their pilots to fly the airplane, says DOJ. In and around November 2016, Forkner discovered information about an important change to MCAS, which DOJ says he allegedly intentionally withheld. "Because of his alleged deceit, the FAA AEG deleted all reference to MCAS from the final version of the 737 Max FSB Report published in July 2017," DOJ states. The department adds: "Forkner sent copies of the 737 Max FSB Report to Boeing’s US-based 737 Max airline customers, but withheld from these customers important information about MCAS and the 737 Max FSB Report evaluation process." 737 Max 8 aircraft were involved in two fatal crashes shortly after takeoff, in October 2018 and March 2019, in Indonesia and Ethiopia operated by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, respectively. MCAS was later blamed for the crashes and the US House Transportation Committee released in October 2019 documents showing that Forkner had in 2017 asked the FAA to remove mention of the MCAS system from its report. Acting US attorney Chad Meacham for the Northern District of Texas says in DOJ's statement: "In an attempt to save Boeing money, Forkner allegedly withheld critical information from regulators." He adds: "[Forkner's] callous choice to mislead the FAA hampered the agency’s ability to protect the flying public and left pilots in the lurch, lacking information about certain 737 Max flight controls. The Department of Justice will not tolerate fraud – especially in industries where the stakes are so high." Forkner is charged with two counts of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce and four counts of wire fraud. He is expected to make his initial court appearance on 15 October before the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison on each count of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce.

South African Airways will resume flights between Johannesburg and Mauritius from 21 November. The carrier says it will initially operate twice-weekly flights between OR Tambo International airport and Mauritius. SAA interim chief executive Thomas Kgokolo states: “Part of our growth strategy is to identify routes where there is demand and which can be profitable to the carrier. The resumption of services to Mauritius meets both those criteria.” SAA says it is now approaching its first full month of operations with local flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town and regionally to Accra, Kinshasa, Harare and Lusaka. A daily Maputo service will begin in December.