As you read through the details of the DOJ investigation, ask yourself why Boeing was permitted to regulte itself. Deregulation is a choice made by government.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated a criminal investigation into the Boeing jetliner incident that occurred on an Alaska Airlines plane earlier this year, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
According to the newspaper, the DOJ has reached out to passengers and crew members, including pilots and flight attendants, who were on the flight that took place on January 5. The Alaska Airlines Boeing plane experienced a blowout just seven minutes after taking off from Portland, Oregon, which led the pilots to make an emergency landing. There were no serious injuries resulting from the incident.
Alaska Airlines stated in a prepared statement that, “in an event like this, it’s normal for the DOJ to be conducting an investigation,” Alaska Airlines said in a prepared statement. “We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.” On the other hand, Boeing declined to comment, while the DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The Wall Street Journal mentioned that this investigation will support the DOJ’s review of whether Boeing complied with a previous settlement regarding the safety of its 737 Max aircraft. This settlement was reached following two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, and Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including a $244 million fine.
Boeing recently admitted in a letter to Congress that it could not find any records of the work done on the door panel of the Alaska Airlines plane. Ziad Ojakli, Boeing’s executive vice president and chief government lobbyist, wrote to Senator Maria Cantwell, stating that despite extensive searches, no documentation regarding the panel’s removal and reinstallation on the 737 MAX final assembly line in Renton, Washington, was found. This lack of documentation raised concerns about Boeing’s quality assurance, quality management, and safety management systems, according to Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Following a Senate committee hearing, Boeing provided the NTSB with the names of all employees who work on 737 doors and clarified that it had already informed the safety board about the missing documentation. In a preliminary report, the NTSB revealed that four bolts crucial for securing the door plug were missing after the panel was removed for repair work. However, it remains unknown who specifically removed and replaced the door panel.
In response to quality-control issues raised by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and a panel of industry and government experts, Boeing has been given 90 days to present its plan of action. Despite improvements made following the previous crashes, the panel identified problems in Boeing’s safety culture.
(With inputs from AP)