CA-Bound Alaska Airlines Inflight Blowout May Have Been A Crime: FBI

CALIFORNIA — Passengers aboard an Alaska Airlines flight that lost a door panel on the way to Southern California earlier this year may be the victims of a crime, according to the FBI.

Passengers on the Jan. 5 flight from Oregon to California's Ontario International Airport received a letter from the bureau alerting them to the ongoing criminal investigation into the circumstances leading up to the near-fatal event.

"I'm contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime," a letter from the FBI's Seattle Division read in part to passengers and some crew members. The letter was shared with CNN and other news outlets by Attorney Mark Lindquist, who represents multiple passengers on the ill-fated Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.

During a late afternoon, the Boeing 737 Max 9 climbed above 16,000 feet when a panel, where an exit door would be, blew off and created a gaping hole in the aircraft's fuselage. The jet experienced rapid decompression as items were sucked out of the plane.

The flight returned to the Portland airport for an emergency landing about 20 minutes after take-off. Seven passengers and one flight attendant sustained minor injuries in the incident, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

In total, 171 passengers and six crew members were on Flight 1282. Many want answers about what happened.

“My clients and I welcome the DOJ investigation,” Lindquist told CNN. “We want accountability. We want answers. We want safer Boeing planes. And a DOJ investigation helps advance our goals.”

Attorney Robert Clifford represents many family members who lost loved ones in a 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 Max jet flown by Ethiopian Air. He also represents some of the Alaska Air Flight 1282 passengers, he told CNN. Some of his Alaska Air clients also got the FBI letter notifying them that they could be crime victims.

“I’m certain everyone on the plane will be getting this letter,” Clifford told CNN.

The FBI told news outlets it does not confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation.

The Alaska Air incident has further tarnished the reputation of Virginia-headquartered Boeing. Its 737 Max 8 jet was grounded worldwide after 346 people died in two separate crashes involving the aircraft: Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018, and the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019.

In 2021, Boeing reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice Department to settle a criminal charge related to the crashes. Under the agreement, Boeing was ordered to pay a criminal penalty of $243.6 million and compensation payments to Boeing’s 737 Max airline customers of $1.77 billion. Boeing was also required to establish a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund to compensate the heirs, relatives and legal beneficiaries of the 346 passengers who died in the two crashes.

"The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world’s leading commercial airplane manufacturers,” Acting Assistant Attorney General David P. Burns of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said at the time of the settlement.

Under the settlement agreement, Boeing officials avoided criminal prosecution. It's not clear whether the Alaska Air incident threatens that protection.

According to a report by the Associated Press, the U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether the panel blowout violated the terms of the 2021 settlement.

Flight 1282 came within days of a three-year probation-type period was due to end under the DOJ 2021 settlement agreement.