The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Boeing after last month’s door plug blowout to see whether the company could be criminally liable.
The DOJ is scrutinizing the blowout that took place on a Boeing 737 Max 9 on January 5, Bloomberg reported.
An Alaska Airlines plane was destroyed when a door blew out at 16,000ft in the air after the door panel slid up.
Investigators inspected the plane to look at whether the four bolts that were supposed to help hold the panel in place might have been missing when the plane took off.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) carried out the inspection of the aircraft after the door flew off and landed in the backyard of a suburban home in Portland, Oregon.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Boeing after last month’s door plug blowout to see whether the company could be criminally liable
The DOJ is scrutinizing the blowout that took place on a Boeing 737 Max 9 on January 5, Bloomberg reported
Investigators inspecting the Alaska Airlines plane that was destroyed when a door blew out at 16,000ft are looking at whether four bolts that were supposed to help hold the panel in place might have been missing when the plane took off
The door flew off and landed in the backyard of a suburban home in Portland , Oregon
Alaska and United Airlines have reported separately that they found loose parts in the panels – or door plugs – of some other Boeing 737 Max 9 jets.
According to Boeing’s latest annual report, the DOJ was considering whether the company fulfilled its obligations under the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).
If the DOJ move to dismiss the information, they would require court approval to do so.
If prosecutors decide that the door plug blowout constitutes a breach of that agreement, then Boeing could face criminal liability, according to the Bloomberg report.
Boeing has desperately tried to explain and strengthen safety procedures after the January 5 incident on the brand new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9.
United has reportedly found loose bolts and other parts on plug doors on at least five of its planes, according to The Air Current.
NTSB investigators are in the cockpit as they investigate what caused a plug covering a spot left for an emergency door to tear off the plane as it flew at 16,000ft
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) carried out an inspection of the aircraft after a door panel slid up before flying off
NTSB investigators are seen in the cabin as they carried out their inspection after the 737 Max 9 was grounded
‘Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug – for example, bolts that needed additional tightening,’ United told DailyMail.com last month.
‘These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service.’
Alaska said that as it began examining its Max 9s and that ‘initial reports from our technicians indicate some loose hardware was visible on some aircraft.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12943315/School-physics-teacher-alaska-airlines-door.html