The Boeing Company has been subpoenaed by U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of a criminal investigation into the certification and marketing processes for its 737 Max aircraft. Two of these passenger jetliners crashed in the space of five months apparently from the same autopilot problem.
The investigation focuses on the process Boeing used to determine its 737 Max aircraft were safe for flight, said CNN. It will also look into the data Boeing gave the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about that process.
Federal investigators have also asked for information from Boeing about its pilot-training manuals and marketing of the 737 Max aircraft. The investigation reportedly began after the Oct. 29, 2018 crash of Lion Air flight 610 involving a 737 Max 8 jetliner. All 189 persons aboad this flight were killed when the 737 crashed into the Java Sea.
The FBI's Seattle Division and the DOJ's criminal division are running the investigation. Media reports said Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asked the DOJ inspector general to investigate the MAX 8 certification on Tuesday.
Criminal investigators are seeking information from Boeing on safety and certification procedures, including training manuals for pilots, along with how the company marketed the new aircraft, the sources said.
Media sources said it isn't clear what possible criminal laws might be at the center of the probe.
But it's certain federal investigators will examine the process by which Boeing certified the 737 MAX 8 as safe, and the data it presented the FAA about that self-certification.
The safety and airworthiness of the 737 MAX 8 are now suspect after two fatal crashes. The crash last October involving a Lion Air MAX 8 and the crash on March 11 involving an Ethiopian Airlines MAX 8 resulted in the deaths of the 346 persons aboard both planes.
The days that followed the Ethiopian Airlines crash saw airlines one after the other ground their fleets of 737 MAX 8ss out of an abundance of caution. A notable holdout was the United States, which was the last major country to ground its fleet of 737 MAX 8s.
Last week, Boeing said it will temporarily stop delivering MAX 8s to airlines while it determines what caused the two crashes. The company has orders for more than 5,000 of these planes. About 350 MAX 8s are currently in service with airlines worldwide.
The U.S. and China are the two largest operators of the MAX 8.
