SEATTLE — Passengers of Alaska Airlines flight 1282, which suffered a door plug blowout in January, received a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), stating they could be "a possible victim of a crime," according to the letter.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into the Boeing 737 MAX 9 blowout, which occurred minutes after the plane took off from Portland, Oregon. There were no serious injuries as a result of the incident, but several passengers are suing both Alaska Airlines and Boeing after the experience.
The FBI sent letters this week to passengers of Alaska Airlines flight 1282, attorney Mark Lindquist confirmed to KING 5.
The letters state in part that the FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the incident and were sent by a victim specialist with the Seattle division of the FBI, adding, "I'm contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime."
The letter also states that the FBI cannot inform passengers about the progress of its investigation and that it has not provided passengers with Victim Assistance Program resources.
Cause of the door plug blowout on Jan. 5 appears to be missing bolts, according to the National Transportation Security Board (NTSB). The NTSB recovered the missing door plug from an Oregon man’s backyard. Investigators found a Non-Conformance Record (NCR) generated at Boeing’s Renton factory documented a repair process in which the four bolts were removed to fix damaged rivets on a section of the plane.
Records show the repairs were made on Sept. 19, 2023, by Spirit AeroSystems personnel – employees of the company that manufactured the fuselage for Boeing. Photos obtained from Boeing show the door plug was closed without bolts in three locations.
Boeing wrote in a letter to Congress that it cannot find records for work done on the door panel that blew out on the flight, according to the Associated Press.
“We have looked extensively and have not found any such documentation,” Ziad Ojakli, Boeing executive vice president and chief government lobbyist, wrote to Sen. Maria Cantwell in early March.