Passengers on doomed Alaska Airlines flight may be victims of a crime, FBI warns in a letter months after door plug flew off Boeing plane mid-air

Passengers aboard the doomed Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 have been notified by the FBI’s Seattle office that they could all be considered a “potential crime victim” following an explosion incident earlier this year in the sky.

The agency’s Seattle Division sent a letter to passengers on Tuesday confirming a criminal investigation by the FBI following the Jan. 5 explosion incident on a Boeing 737 MAX plane.

“As a victim specialist with the Seattle Division, I am contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” the letter to passengers on Alaska Flight 1282 read.

The letter also claimed that due to the complexity of the investigation and the large number of potential victims, updates on its progress may not be revealed.

“This matter is currently under investigation by the FBI,” the report continued. “A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking and for a variety of reasons we cannot tell you about its progress at this time.”

A copy of the March 19 letter was shared by attorney Mark Lindquist, who represents passengers on the flight.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines flight, which suffered a near-catastrophic crash at an altitude of 16,000 feet.

On January 5, a door plug blew off mid-flight with 171 passengers and crew on board, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

Investigators have contacted some passengers to inform them they may be victims of a crime and interviewed pilots and flight attendants, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal.

The investigation may not result in formal allegations of wrongdoing, but it will inform a Justice Department probe into whether Boeing complied with the requirements of the settlements reached after the two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

In January, an Alaska Airlines flight suffered a near-catastrophe when an airplane door blew out at 16,000 feet above Portland

There were no serious injuries from the terrifying air disturbance, but passengers’ belongings, including phones, flew from the plane

If they fail to meet the terms of the settlement, Boeing could be prosecuted for defrauding the US.

The latest development in the investigation into Boeing adds to the company’s troubles, which include a civil investigation among other recent high-profile incidents involving its planes.

Alaska Airlines told the Journal at the time: “In an event like this, it is normal for the DOJ to conduct an investigation. We are cooperating fully and do not believe we are the target of the investigation.”

The criminal investigation follows civil investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA, which found “multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to meet quality control requirements in production.”

The criminal investigation will examine whether Boeing complied with the terms of the 2021 settlement reached after the fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

The first occurred when a Max 8 operated by Indonesian Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea in October 2018.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks to reports at the Capitol in January after MAX 9 planes were grounded

The second was when an Ethiopia Airlines 737 Max 8 almost crashed straight into a field six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa in March 2019.

Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the FBI and the Department of Transportation in the wake of the crashes, admitting that two former employees misled the FAA about the amount of training a new flight control system would require.

If the Justice Department determines that Boeing violated the terms of that settlement, they could be prosecuted on the original charge of defrauding the US.

Boeing declined to comment on the criminal investigation. DailyMail.com contacted Alaska Airlines for comment.

Boeing is also facing a civil lawsuit against a group of passengers on board the flight.