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"This is a major step forward," said Acting Assistant Attorney

Feb. 14, 2017 by Paul Fletcher

"This is a major step forward," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Paul Rehnquist. "This is a very troubling development, given that there is no known pattern of FAA oversight of Boeing's flight software, and we're confident the agency will conduct a thorough investigation as soon as possible."

"We believe we've uncovered the key ingredient to the mystery, and we're hopeful that the investigation will lead to the release of the full flight data for all of our customers," Justice Department spokesperson Julie Warthen said.

According to the report by the Aviation Safety Network and the Federal Aviation Safety Administration , the Boeing engineers took the flight in the mid-'90s, without any significant training. It's not clear whether they were told to fly at all, or which part of the plane they were flying in. And there's still no indication that Boeing knew how the computer was going to perform.

In the latest attempt to address that, Rehnquist said the company has hired a "strategic pilot" to provide input. It's unclear if the pilot, who has also been called up for training, would have been able to determine whether the computer was supposed to fly in the first place. And if so, it appears the pilot might not have had the training to make the decision to fly at all.

The investigation is being handled by the Office of the Inspector General, which does not have a jurisdiction to conduct criminal investigations, but it should include an investigation by a federal law enforcement agency, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Dan Stein.

"It's not clear yet whether the Boeing engineers were aware they were flying in the first place," said Rehnquist. "But based on the information I've heard, and the findings of the investigation, we think that's very troubling."

The agency also has an investigation into the incident, which is still under review.

Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration announced today that it will not prosecute any alleged pilots or any of their crew members in the incident. It is the first time the agency has fined a former Boeing 737 MAX pilot for operating a plane that crashed, a figure that includes two of the crew members, the FAA said.

The FAA has also issued a report saying the 737 MAX was not a certified pilot. That is the second time in as many weeks that the FAA has fined a former pilot for operating a plane that crashed.

In a statement, the FAA said that it expects the same sort of discipline in the future, and that it's not willing to accept any