It’s being reported tonight that the FBI and DOJ have launched a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 incident where the door came off the airplane mid-flight.
Letters have been mailed to the passengers letting them know they may be victims of a crime.
Here’s more via DC Examiner:
The passengers on an Alaska Airlines Boeing flight that blew out its door plug midflight could be “victim[s] of a crime,” according to the FBI.
This Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane was forced to make an emergency landing in January when the incident happened, and no passengers were injured. Even when the door made impact with the ground, there were no reported injuries.
Still the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the matter. The FBI and Department of Justice have opened their own criminal investigations as well. Subsequently, the FBI’s victim specialist from its Seattle office sent all involved passengers a letter this week.
“I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” the letter read. “A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking, and, for several reasons, we cannot tell you about its progress at this time. A victim of a federal crime is entitled to receive certain services.”
I’d be very interested to hear the charges and why this might be considered criminal as opposed to being just a mistake by someone at Alaska Airlines or Boeing.
This might shed some light on it. Fox 13 reports that Boeing can’t reveal who worked on the door because the security footage has already been overwritten and they don’t have a record of who worked on the door.