(Seattle) The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a criminal investigation into the incident that occurred in January when a cabin door of a Boeing 737 Max 9 flying from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California came loose in flight, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
The incident left a gaping hole on the Alaska Airlines plane.
Citing documents and people familiar with the matter, the American newspaper said that investigators had contacted some passengers and crew members, including pilots and flight attendants, who were on board the January 5 flight.
The Boeing plane used by Alaska Airlines had a panel torn off seven minutes after taking off from Portland, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing. Boeing has been under increased scrutiny since the January 5 incident, in which the panel intended to block the space left for an additional emergency door came off an Alaska Airlines Max 9 . The pilots were able to land safely and there were no serious injuries.
“In an event like this, it is normal for the DOJ to conduct an investigation,” Alaska Airlines sought to reassure in a prepared statement. We are cooperating fully and do not believe we are the target of the investigation. »
Boeing declined to comment. The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation is aimed at determining whether Boeing complied with an earlier settlement reached after a U.S. national investigation into the safety of its 737 Max plane following two crashes that cost many human lives in 2018 and 2019.
In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay US2.5 billion (CAN3.38 billion), including US244 million (CAN330 million) in fines. The company also accused two employees of misleading authorities about defects in the flight control system.
Boeing acknowledged in a letter to the US Congress that it could not find records of work done on the Alaska Airlines plane’s door panel.
“We have conducted extensive research and found no such documentation,” Ziad Ojakli, Boeing executive vice president and chief government lobbyist, wrote to Sen. Maria Cantwell on Friday.
Good cooperation called into question
The company said its “working hypothesis” was that records regarding the removal and reinstallation of the panel on the 737 MAX final assembly line in Renton, Washington, were never created, even though Boeing’s systems required it.
The letter, reported earlier by the Seattle Times, followed a contentious Senate committee hearing Wednesday in which Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) argued over whether The company had cooperated with investigators.
Safety committee Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy testified that for two months, Boeing repeatedly refused to identify employees who worked on Boeing 737 door panels and failed to provide documentation of a repair job including removal and reinstallation of door panel.
“It is absurd that two months later we do not have this,” said M.me Homendy. Without this information, this raises concerns regarding quality assurance, quality management and safety management systems” at Boeing.
Mme Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, demanded a response from Boeing within 48 hours.
Shortly after the Senate hearing, Boeing said it had given the NTSB the names of all employees who work on the 737 doors — and had already shared some with investigators.
In the letter, Boeing said it had already made it clear to the safety office that it could not find the documentation. Until the hearing, the manufacturer said, “Boeing was not aware of any complaints or concerns regarding a lack of collaboration.”
In a preliminary report last month, the NTSB said four bolts to hold the door stopper in place were missing, after the panel was removed so workers could repair damaged rivets nearby last September. The rivet repairs were done by contractors working for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, but the NTSB still doesn’t know who removed and replaced the door panel, Mr.me Homendy Wednesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently gave Boeing 90 days to say how it would respond to quality control issues raised by the agency and a panel of industry and government experts. The panel found problems in Boeing’s safety culture despite improvements made after two Max 8 planes crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.