© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX Flight 1282, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a hole in the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Board Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Portland.
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has told passengers traveling on an Alaska Airlines (NYSE:) Boeing 737 MAX 9 that suffered a mid-air emergency on Jan. 5 that they could be victims of a crime, according to letters seen by Reuters.
The letters, a procedural step in some Justice Department criminal investigations, are a sign that its investigation into the MAX 9 emergency is moving forward.
The letters, dated Tuesday, say the FBI has identified the passengers “as a possible victim of a crime. This case is currently under investigation by the FBI… A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking and, for several reasons , We cannot inform you about his progress at this time.”
The letters were previously reported by the Seattle Times.
An FBI spokesman in Seattle declined to comment, citing the Justice Department's policy that it “does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.”
In 2022, the Justice Department updated its guidelines for notifying victims of potential crimes after relatives of some of the 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 said their legal rights had been violated when the department initiated deferred prosecution in January 2021. deal with Boeing without notifying them.
The department also apologized for not meeting with families of crash victims before the announcement of the settlement that ended a 21-month investigation into the design and development of the 737 MAX 8.
Boeing declined to comment Friday but said this month that it would continue to cooperate fully and transparently with all government investigations.
Alaska Airlines said it was cooperating fully with the investigation and does not believe it was targeted.
In the mid-air emergency, a door plug panel detached from the side of the MAX 9 plane at 16,000 feet, leaving a rectangular hole the size of a refrigerator in the plane. The plane landed safely with all 171 passengers and six crew members on board. Seven passengers and a flight attendant suffered minor injuries.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said four key bolts appeared to be missing from the plane that had been delivered by Boeing months earlier. Boeing has said it believes the required documents detailing the extraction of the bolts were never created.
In the wake of the incident, the FAA grounded the MAX 9 for several weeks, prohibited Boeing from increasing the production rate of the MAX, and ordered it to develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality control issues” within 90 days. .
