Open in full screen mode A US Transportation Safety Agency inspector observes the panel torn off the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9. Agence France-Presse Passengers on board a Boeing whose door came loose mid-flight may have been victims of a crime, according to the FBI, American media reported on Friday. At the beginning of March, the Ministry of Justice had already announced that it was opening a criminal investigation into this spectacular event that occurred on January 5, when' ;a door cap (a metal panel placed in a location capable of accommodating a door) broke away from the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines plane. No one was seriously injured, but the 737 MAX 9 had to make an emergency landing. The images of the terrified passengers, sitting next to the gaping hole in mid-flight, went around the world.
Investigators from the US Transportation Safety Agency were able to recover the panel that detached from the fuselage of the Boeing 737-9 MAX d 'Alaska Airlines, but no bolts had yet been found on January 9, 2024. (File photo)
Passengers recently received a letter of the FBI, which is investigating this case, according to the Seattle Times.
I am contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime, writes an agent of the American federal police in this document.
LoadingMore than 60 dead in shooting at concert hall near Moscow
ELSEWHERE ON INFO: More than 60 dead in shooting at concert hall near MoscowLoading
More than 60 dead in shooting at concert hall near Moscow
ELSE ON NEWS: More than 60 dead in shooting at concert hall near Moscow
A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking and, for several reasons, we cannot inform you of its development at present, he adds.
Several bolts supposed to secure the cap holder were missing, according to the US Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB), which blamed Boeing.
Jennifer Homendy, the president of the American agency responsible for transport security (Archive photo)
The aircraft manufacturer was notably criticized for the slowness of its cooperation with the authorities.
In early March, the NTSB explained that it had not received certain important documents, and that the company had still not provided the names of the employees who worked on the part in question.
It is absurd that two months later we let's not have this information, denounced the president of the NTSB, Jennifer Homendy, to American parliamentarians.