8 Plead Innocent to Maintenance Fraud at Eastern

Eastern Airlines and eight of its managers Monday pleaded not guilty to federal charges that they intimidated mechanics into doctoring records to falsely show that scheduled repairs on Eastern aircraft were made.

The bankrupt unit of Continental Airlines Holdings Inc. and the employees entered their pleas before U.S. District Court Judge I. Leo Glasser in Brooklyn.

In a 60-count indictment announced July 25, the defendants were charged with conspiring to defraud the government, wire fraud, falsification of documents and obstruction of justice.

The defendants, including Edward Upton, former vice president of maintenance and engineering, and Thomas Lewis, Eastern’s maintenance director for the Washington-to-Montreal region, were charged after a 10-month grand jury investigation of the troubled carrier.

Prosecutors charge that the defendants did not perform required maintenance work on Eastern aircraft, and then conspired from July, 1985, to October, 1989, to falsify records to show that the work had been completed to avoid flight delays and cancellations.