(Reuters) – Alaska Airlines said on Saturday it was cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice after it opened a criminal investigation into the explosion of a Boeing (NYSE:) 737 MAX jet during a flight in January.
“In this case, it is quite normal for the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation. We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal, citing documents and people familiar with the case, reported that investigators had contacted some passengers and crew members of the Jan. 5 flight, which made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, after a fuselage panel came off in mid-air. .
The investigation will be used by the Justice Department to examine whether Boeing complied with an earlier agreement that resolved a federal investigation after two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, the report added.
Boeing and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
A door panel exploded on an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, airport on Jan. 5, leaving pilots scrambling to land the plane safely.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently ordered the temporary grounding of 171 similarly configured MAX 9 narrowbody aircraft.
Days after the incident, Alaska Airlines resumed service on its MAX 9 aircraft on January 26 after it said it had completed inspections of the first group of its Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
In February, the National Transportation Safety Board said the door panel that flew off appeared to be missing four key bolts. The fork was manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:), a former Boeing subsidiary that spun off from its parent company in 2005.