FBI to join Boeing 737 MAX criminal investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is joining the U.S. Department of Transportation in the criminal investigation around the Boeing 737 MAX.
Commencing at the end of 2018 when Lion Air JT610 crashed, the investigation has been elevated following the loss of a second 737 MAX operated by Ethiopian Airlines. 346 people have been killed in the two 737 MAX accidents alone, which is close to the figure of aircraft delivered to airlines around the world.
Certification documents, technical documents, training manuals and marketing materials are being requested by criminal investigators, who are being supervised by the U.S. Justice Department.
The investigation is extremely confidential and neither the FBI, Department of Transportation or Boeing want to comment.
It was disclosed recently by the Seattle Times that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) delegated parts of the certification process to Boeing to complete itself, opening up a lengthy set of questions from authorities and airlines around the world.
Following the announcement that the FBI will be joining the investigation, a Senate panel, specifically the Commerce subcommittee on aviation and space, has requested Boeing executives attend a hearing to be questioned about the crashes.
The FAA will also appear to a hearing to be questioned over their decision to certify the 737 MAX without requiring extensive training on the differences to older 737 aircraft.
At the core of the exact reasoning for the crashes is the newly implemented Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) and pilot training, which is said to be minimal or non-existent. The aim of the investigations is to determine how much of a factor each of these played in the crashes, who is responsible and by how much.