- The FBI’s Seattle division sent a letter to passengers on Tuesday confirming a criminal investigation by the FBI into the blowout of the Boeing 737 MAX
- Passengers aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 have been notified by the Seattle FBI office that they may each be considered a ‘possible victim of a crime’
- The letter also claimed that due to the complexity of the investigation and the large number of potential victims, updates on its progress may not be disclosed
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Passengers aboard the doomed Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 have been notified by the Seattle FBI office that they may each be considered a ‘possible victim of a crime’ following an in-flight incident earlier this year.
The agency’s Seattle division sent a letter to passengers on Tuesday confirming a criminal investigation by the FBI into the Jan. 5 blowout incident on a Boeing 737 MAX plane.
“As a victim specialist with the Seattle division, I am contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” read the letter sent to Alaska Flight 1282 passengers.
The letter also claimed that due to the complexity of the investigation and the large number of potential victims, updates on its progress may not be disclosed.
“This case is currently under investigation by the FBI,” it continued. ‘A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking and for a number of reasons we cannot tell you about its progress at this time.’
Passengers aboard the doomed Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 have been notified by the Seattle FBI office that they may each be considered a ‘possible victim of a crime’ following an in-flight incident earlier this year.
A copy of the March 19 letter was shared by attorney Mark Lindquist, who represents passengers on the plane.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines flight that suffered the near-catastrophic blowout at 16,000 feet.
A door stopper blew off mid-flight on January 5 with 171 passengers and crew on board, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.
Investigators contacted some passengers and informed them they might be victims of a crime, and interviewed pilots and flight attendants, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal.
The investigation may not result in formal charges of wrongdoing, but it will inform a Justice Department agency on whether Boeing has met the requirements of the settlements reached after the two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.
In January, an Alaska Airlines flight suffered a near-catastrophe when an aircraft door blew out at 16,000 feet above Portland
There were no serious injuries from the terrifying midair failure, but passengers’ belongings including phones flew out of the plane
If they have not met the terms of the settlement, Boeing could be prosecuted on a charge of fraud by the United States.
The latest developments in the investigation into Boeing add to the company’s woes, which include a civil investigation in addition to other recent high-profile incidents involving its jets.
Alaska Airlines told The Journal at the time: ‘In an event like this, it is normal for the DOJ to conduct an investigation. We are cooperating fully and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.’
The criminal investigation follows civil investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA, which found “several instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.”
The criminal investigation will examine whether Boeing met the terms of the 2021 settlement reached after the fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
The first occurred when a Max 8 operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea in October 2018.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks to reports at the Capitol in January after the MAX 9 plane was grounded
The second was when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed almost straight into a field six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa in March 2019.
Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the FBI and the Department of Transportation in the wake of the crashes, admitting that two former employees had misled the FAA about how much training a new air traffic control system would require.
If the Justice Department finds that Boeing violated the terms of that settlement, they could be prosecuted on the original charge of defrauding the United States.
Boeing declined to comment on the investigation. DailyMail.com contacted Alaska Airlines for comment.
Boeing is also facing a civil lawsuit from a group of passengers aboard the plane.