Passengers aboard an Alaska Airlines flight that experienced a panel blowout midair may have been exposed to criminal activity, according to a letter from the FBI.
CBS News has obtained a copy of the correspondence, which reveals the ongoing investigation into the harrowing incident aboard Flight No. 1282.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that Alaska flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX bound for Ontario, California, departed Portland, Oregon, just after 5 pm Pacific time earlier this year when a deactivated emergency door used as a regular cabin window blew out at 16,000 feet. Six crew members and 171 passengers were aboard the jet.
An X/Twitter user discovered a recording of the female pilot frantically calling air traffic control after the plane section blew out. The audio is quite chilling.
“Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency! Aircraft is now leveling 12,000 in a left turn heading three four zero. We need a divert. We’ve declared an emergency. We are depressurized. We have 177 passengers on board, and a seal is…18,900.”
I found the @liveatc recording of #ASA1282 declaring an emergency with Seattle Center around 5:12pm PT. Aircraft would have been ~12,000 ft and climbing. “Uhhhh we’d like to get down.” pic.twitter.com/P8xxJ5nsbj
— Brian McGuigan (@bricaul) January 6, 2024
Captured footage shows what happened after the plane lost its part. It shows fliers staring out the gaping hole of the fuselage, a baby crying, and passengers appearing to mutter that they thought they were going to die.
The air also ripped the shirt off a little boy as his mom desperately held onto him. Phones were also sucked away from passengers and disappeared into the sky.
#BREAKING: Alaska Airlines Forced to Make an Emergency Landing After Large Aircraft Window Blows Out Mid-Air ⁰⁰#Portland | #Oregon
⁰A Forced emergency landing was made of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 at Portland International Airport on Friday night. The flight, traveling… pic.twitter.com/nt0FwmPALE
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) January 6, 2024
Somehow, everyone aboard the flight escaped without injuries. Boeing, Alaska Airlines, and the National Transportation Safety Board have all launched investigations to determine what caused the part to break off.
According to a new report released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday, the door panel that blew out had no bolts installed. Furthermore, the faulty door plug was manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems in Malaysia.
According to CBS, a victim specialist from the Seattle Division of the FBI addressed the two-page letter to the 174 passengers and six crew members on board, indicating that they could potentially be victims of a crime.
“I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” the FBI letter said. “This case is currently under investigation by the FBI. A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking, and, for several reasons, we cannot tell you about its progress at this time.”
More from CBS:
There are a “large number of potential victims in this case,” the FBI said in their letter. The letter detailed how the flyers could access information about the case and warned that criminal investigations “can be a lengthy undertaking.”
The plane had reached approximately 16,000 feet when the panel fell off, one passenger said in a lawsuit filed against Alaska Airlines, Boeing and door plug manufacturer Spirit Aerosystems, claiming the event left him and six other passengers with physical injuries and “serious emotional distress, fear, and anxiety.” The passenger said his seatbelt saved him from being sucked out of the gaping hole.
Three passengers on the Alaska Airlines plane sued the airline and Boeing for $1 billion, claiming negligence caused the incident. Officials said several people sustained minor injuries, but no one was seriously hurt.
The FAA ordered a temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes shortly after the incident and required safety inspections for the aircraft in operation worldwide. The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report found four bolts meant to hold the door plug in place were missing.
The U.S. Justice Department is currently investigating the blowout, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed earlier this month to CBS News. It is not clear if their investigation is related to the letter sent by the FBI Seattle office.
The probe into this incident contributes to an expanding portfolio of legal challenges confronting Boeing.
Yahoo News reported:
March 2024
The FAA’s 737 Max production audit finds multiple instances where Boeing allegedly did not comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.
In two separate incidents, a Boeing 777-200 loses a wheel during takeoff from San Francisco and a Boeing 737 skids off the runway after landing in Houston.
The next week, a prominent Boeing whistleblower — former employee John Barnett — dies by suicide while in Charleston, S.C., for a deposition for a lawsuit against Boeing.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner nose-dives during a flight from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand, injuring at least 50 people, on the same day a Boeing 777 flight from Sydney is forced to turn around due to a maintenance issue.
Another Boeing 777 is forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport after pilots report a flat tire.
A Boeing 737 that took off from San Francisco later that week is found to be missing a panel during a postflight inspection.
February 2024
The NTSB publishes a preliminary report that found the Alaska Airlines flight was missing four key bolts, which is why the door plug blew out.
January 2024
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 experiences a door plug blowout midflight. The FAA subsequently grounds all Max 9 aircraft to investigate.
December 2023
Boeing urges airlines to inspect all 737 Max jets for potential loose hardware in the plane’s rudder control systems.
August 2023
Boeing reports a supplier quality issue with 737 Max planes involving improperly drilled holes.
October 2022
The FAA tells Boeing that some documents submitted for the certification review of the 737 Max 7 are incomplete.
March 2021
China’s aviation regulator claims there are major safety concerns with the Boeing Max jets.
November 2020
The FAA allows Boeing 737 Max planes to fly again.
September 2020
An 18-month-long investigation by a House of Representatives panel concludes that Boeing failed in its design and development of the Max aircraft and was not fully transparent with the FAA.
January 2020
Boeing suspends all 737 production.
March 2019
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, reports a “flight control” problem to the control tower one minute after taking off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The plane crashes six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board.
China decides to ground all Boeing 737 Max planes. The FAA follows.
November 2018
The FAA and Boeing announce they are investigating software and design changes on all 737 Max planes following the Lion Air crash.
October 2018
Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max aircraft, crashes 13 minutes after takeoff from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia. All 189 on board are killed.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, it turns out that woke diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) standards, not unexpectedly, may have played a role in this horrifying incident that could have killed nearly 200 passengers and caused other fatalities on the ground below.
Biden’s federal agencies and many US companies, including airlines, prioritize DEI and race or gender identity over job candidates’ abilities in the hiring process. Not only is it racist to judge employees based on the color of their skin, but this could create serious risks for the public, especially when it comes to our planes, trains, and automobiles.
Also, The Gateway Pundit previously reported Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead from a self-inflicted wound inside his vehicle outside a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina days after testifying against the airplane company.
John Barnett was found dead on March 9. He worked for Boeing for 32 years until he retired in 2017.
“Barnett’s death came during a break in depositions in a whistleblower retaliation suit, where he alleged under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.” the Daily Mail reported.
Barnett’s lawyers are asking for a thorough probe because they don’t believe he committed suicide.
“John was in the midst of a deposition in his whistleblower case, which finally was nearing the end,” Barnett’s lawyers said, according to The New York Post. “He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on.”
A close family friend of John Barnett disclosed his haunting premonition before his untimely death.
Jennifer, whose mother has been lifelong friends with Barnett’s mother, shared that Barnett had expressed concerns about potentially ending up dead in a scenario falsely framed as suicide.
Jennifer recounted her conversations with Barnett, emphasizing his love for life and dismissing any possibility that he could have taken his own life.
“He wasn’t concerned about safety because I asked him, I said, aren’t you scared? And his voice and the way he would talk, ‘no, I ain’t scared,’ he said, but if anything happens to me, it’s not suicide. I know that he did not commit suicide. There’s no way. He loved life too much. He loved his family too much. He loved his brothers too much to put them through what they’re going through right now,” she said.
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