CHARLOTTE, N.C (TNS) — The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the midair blowout of a Boeing 737 MAX fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
“In an event like this, it’s normal for the DOJ to be conducting an investigation,” Alaska Airlines said Saturday in a statement. “We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators have contacted some passengers and crew members from the flight, which made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, after a door plug ripped off from the plane.
The Justice Department and Boeing Co. didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Bloomberg reported last month that the Justice Department was scrutinizing the incident, examining whether it falls under the government’s 2021 deferred-prosecution agreement with the aircraft maker over two previous fatal crashes of its 737 Max jetliner.
Under the terms of the $2.5 billion settlement, the company adopted a compliance program designed to prevent it from deceiving regulators, including the Federal Aviation Administration. Boeing agreed to comply with the settlement and cooperate with the government for a period of three years, after which the charge would be dismissed. The Alaska Air accident took place on Jan. 5, two days before the expiration of the deferred-prosecution agreement.
In this National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) handout, an opening is seen in the fuselage of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX on Jan. 7, 2024, in Portland, Oregon. A door-sized section near the rear of the Boeing 737-9 MAX plane blew off 10 minutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 5 on its way to Ontario, California. (NTSB/Getty Images/TNS)
