The Associated Press, citing a report in the Wall Street Journal, reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has “launched a criminal investigation into the explosion of a Boeing jetliner that left a gaping hole in the Alaska Airlines plane.”
“As part of the new investigation, the Justice Department has interviewed the pilot and flight attendant of the plane…” the Journal reported. “According to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, law enforcement officials are taking steps to begin notifying passengers in Alaska during the Jan. 5 crash that they may be victims of a crime in the incident. We took the following steps.”
The investigation will inform a Justice Department review about whether Boeing followed through on previous settlements that resolved federal investigations following two 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. Investigations do not necessarily lead to formal accusations of wrongdoing.
Separately, investigators from the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General have been seeking interviews in recent weeks with Federal Aviation Administration officials in the Seattle area who oversee Boeing's manufacturing.
If the Justice Department finds that Boeing violated the terms of the 2021 settlement, the company could be prosecuted on the original charges of defrauding the United States. Alternatively, the government could seek a three-year extension of the contract for a trial period that would require Boeing to renew the Court of Justice Division on Compliance Improvement.
In a related development, Boeing “admitted in a letter to Congress that it could not find records of work done on the door panels of Alaska Airlines planes,” the Associated Press reported.
Ziad Ojakli, Boeing's vice president and chief government lobbyist, said in a letter to Sen. Maria Cantwell on Friday that “we have conducted an extensive search and have found no such document.” The company said records about the removal and reinstallation of panels on the 737 MAX final assembly line in Renton, Washington, were not created even though Boeing's systems required them to be created. “Hypothesis.''
The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said earlier this week that the lack of documentation “raises concerns about Boeing's internal quality assurance, quality control and safety management systems.”
“This is a serious and potentially illegal violation of standard aviation manufacturing quality processes.” seattle times.
Meanwhile, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also said, “According to a preliminary report released Thursday, a United Airlines Boeing 737-8 had an accident last month when its rudder pedals 'stuck' after landing in Newark.” Axios reported that the flight is also being investigated.
The captain reported that during the landing rollout, that is, after landing and before the airplane slowed to taxi speed, the pedals did not respond to foot pressure and remained stuck. “The captain used the nose wheel steering tiller to keep the airplane near the centerline of the runway while slowing the airplane to a safe operating speed before exiting the runway and entering a high-speed turnoff,” the report said.
Shortly after, the rudder pedals started working properly, the captain said. There were no injuries and the plane was taken out of service for maintenance and troubleshooting. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, no obvious defects were found after inspection. After removing parts of the rudder system, United conducted a second flight test and found that the rudder controls were working properly, the report said. “In coordination with United Airlines, the issue was successfully resolved by replacing three parts, and the plane returned to service last month,” Boeing said in a statement, adding that this is the only such issue the company has received. It added that this is a report. 737 MAX fleet.
Investigation is ongoing.