After a flight blow aboard a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft earlier this year, the Seattle FBI department has alerted Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 people that each may be a “possible victim of a violence.”
Following the devastating incident on January 5th, the FBI, the agency’s main investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, confirmed in a text to passengers on Tuesday that it had opened a criminal investigation. On that trip, a piece of the aircraft of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 helicopter blew off as the aircraft left Portland.
Federal investigators allege that the plane’s aircraft piece, a connect covering a hole for an additional emergency exit, was not installed when it left Boeing’s Renton assembly plant in late next year. In the months since the disaster, congressional and federal regulators have increased their investigation into Boeing, which has sparked a criminal investigation.
A rider as well as an attorney representing numerous passengers on board shared the email sent by a target help professional at the FBI’s Seattle office with The Seattle Times.
The email sent to Alaska Flight 1282 people read,” As a Victim Specialist with the Seattle Division, I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime.”
” This case is currently under investigation by the FBI”, it continued. ” A fugitive investigation can be a long task, and for several reasons, we may tell you about its development at this time”.
Earlier this month, it was reported that , the Justice Department had opened a fugitive investigation , into Boeing and that it had interviewed various testimony in connection with the sensor, including the captain and crew of the Alaska Airlines trip. The office also reportedly sent subpoenas and is using a , great jury , in Seattle.
The FBI’s Seattle division’s public affairs director, Steve Bernd, claimed on Thursday that Justice Department policy forbade him from confirming or disproving an investigation’s life.
However, two lawyers for hundreds of individuals who are suing Boeing and Alaska claimed their customers had received letters indicating an investigation was being conducted.
One of those attorneys, Mark Lindquist, claimed the FBI has not yet requested any additional information from his customers, but that the email is likely to prompt an interview with those aboard. The email was “encouraging” for some customers, he said, because “it validates their perception that this was a serious event that should not have happened”.
People were instructed to create profiles through the agency’s Victim Notification System to be informed of progress in the case.
The FBI expected there to be a “large number of potential victims in this case”, and created an email address for” AlaskaFlightVictims” to contact the company.
The Justice Department’s criminal probe may concentrate on whether Boeing , violated the terms of a 2021 partnership with national prosecutors , following , the two MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed more than 300 people.
Boeing would evade criminal prosecution under that deferred prosecution agreement if it met specific requirements for three decades, including submitting any fraud-related information to its workers or agents and strengthening its compliance programme.  , Boeing was two days away from the treaty’s expire when the disaster occurred.
The Federal Aviation Administration has also begun an exploration into Boeing’s production operations since the January disaster. The FAA claimed it had  discovered dozens of issues at Boeing and its dealer Spirit AeroSystems, including numerous situations where the companies failed to adhere to quality control needs after a six-week assessment that wrapped up earlier this month.
The investigation into what caused the part of fuselage to blow out is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Boeing declined to comment on Thursday. Alaska said “in an event like this, it’s normal for the Court to been conducting an investigation. We fully cooperate, and we do n’t think our case will end up in court.
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