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(Reuters) – Alaska Airlines said on Saturday it is cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department after a criminal investigation was opened into the explosion of the Boeing (NYSE:) 737 MAX on its flight in January.
“In an event like this, it is 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.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported, citing documents and people familiar with the matter, that investigators had contacted some passengers and crew on the Jan. 5 flight, which made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, after that a fuselage panel had broken off in mid-air.
The investigation would inform the Justice Department’s review of whether Boeing complied with a previous agreement that resolved a federal investigation following two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, the report added.
Boeing and DOJ did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The door panel exploded on an Alaska Airlines-operated flight not long after takeoff from a Portland, Oregon, airport on Jan. 5, forcing pilots to scramble to land the plane safely.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently ordered the temporary grounding of 171 MAX 9 narrow-body jets with a similar configuration.
Days after the crash, Alaska Airlines resumed MAX 9 service on January 26 after saying it had completed inspections on the first batch of its Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes.
In February, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said the blown-off door panel was missing four latches. The plug was manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:), the former Boeing subsidiary that split from its parent company in 2005.