Though some of the aircraft safety problems crept into this thread: RE: The Case Against United Airlines – Vaccine Mandates **PLEASE READ**, it seemed this topic was significantly deviating from the OP's post, so I started this one.


From the Epoch Times: FBI Tells Passengers on Alaska Airlines Blowout Flight They May Be Crime Victims

"Passengers onboard the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, which suffered a mid-air door plug blowout on Jan. 5, have been told by the FBI via a letter that they may have been victims of a possible crime."

later in the article

"Alaska Airlines said that it was fully cooperating with the investigation and does not believe it is the target of the probe."


So, if Alaska Airlines isn't the target, is the FBI looking at a corporate actor, e.g., Boeing, or an individual? Perhaps a disgruntled employee that sabotaged the plane? It will be interesting to see what unfolds.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DrDan,

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:

So, if Alaska Airlines isn't the target, is the FBI looking at a corporate actor, e.g., Boeing, or an individual? Perhaps a disgruntled employee that sabotaged the plane? It will be interesting to see what unfolds.

Rather than something deliberately shady, couldn't this just be a crime of negligence by one of the companies (to include Spirit Aero)?

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.

No longer do I fly commercial, haven't for many years.

The idea of flying cattle cars being piloted by incompetent DEI hires and serviced by indifferent people who think the world owes them a living holds no appeal for me.

^^^^^
I’ll let you know when I’m flying, sir. That way you can FURTHER avoid Commercial Aviation travel.

The DEI stuff is somewhat overblown (in pilot terms) in actuality. I fly for an airline that I was hire #2000ish. We now have 12,000+ pilots. The companies may make noise in that direction but the reality is they aren't hiring incompetent pilots.

If you fly Delta (not my airline) and look up front, the odds are in your favor if you bet on white, old, prior military. That is still the main demographic.

In my new hire class back in '99, we had 22 pilots in the class. I was the third youngest and all but 2 were prior military aviators.

I too don't fly but it isn't because of the pilots. It is the passengers. The modern passenger is rude, entitled, obnoxious, and many times under the influence. Broad brush strokes but I sometimes wish I had gone the cargo (boxes don't complain or talk back) route. lol

quote:

Originally posted by Oregon:

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:

So, if Alaska Airlines isn't the target, is the FBI looking at a corporate actor, e.g., Boeing, or an individual? Perhaps a disgruntled employee that sabotaged the plane? It will be interesting to see what unfolds.

Rather than something deliberately shady, couldn't this just be a crime of negligence by one of the companies (to include Spirit Aero)?

Of course it could, but most cases of negligence or incompetence are civil, not criminal, AFAIK.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
If you fly Delta (not my airline) and look up front, the odds are in your favor if you bet on white, old, prior military. That is still the main demographic.

In my new hire class back in '99, we had 22 pilots in the class. I was the third youngest and all but 2 were prior military aviators.

Day 1 of Basic Indoc at my current airline was 11-SEP 2018. My class had 42 new-hire pilots and one returning furloughee. 2 women in my class.

Out of 43 pilots it was pretty much 50/50 military (both former and currently active) and former Regional carrier and one Corporate pilot.

Unfortunately, my airline, being a MOSTLY Boeing-fleeted airline, has received MUCH publicity in the past couple of weeks.

I fly almost exclusively Delta.

I believe that falsifying build/maintenance logs is a federal crime. The door plug failed inspection, and the documentation in the log for the repair was incomplete and/or missing, thus the potential for criminal liability.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
I believe that falsifying build/maintenance logs is a federal crime...

I'm not questioning that, but it seems unusual for the FBI to notify potential victims. Have there been other situations where the FBI did this? Did every investor of that jerk Sam Bankman-Fried get a letter?

Alaska Airlines has had a plane crash because of faulty maintenance before. Look up Flight 261 in 2000. (The plane was not a Boeing product.)

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
I believe that falsifying build/maintenance logs is a federal crime...

I'm not questioning that, but it seems unusual for the FBI to notify potential victims. Have there been other situations where the FBI did this? Did every investor of that jerk Sam Bankman-Fried get a letter?

I think the answer is this (from the article):

"The Justice Department in 2022 updated its guidelines for notifying victims of potential crimes after relatives of some of the 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 said their legal rights had been violated when the department struck a January 2021 deferred prosecution deal with Boeing without notifying them."

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:

I think the answer is this (from the article):

"The Justice Department in 2022 updated its guidelines for notifying victims of potential crimes..."

Thanks. I skimmed thru the article and missed that.

The plug will fall on the shoulders of either Spirit (made the plug door and likely installed it) or it will fall on a couple of Boeing mechanics. Spirit has people at Seattle just to correct problems so they work side by side with Boeing.

As I understand it, Boeing has two build/maintenance programs that employees use. The first is for daily work activities and the second is for official logged work. Only the second one counts.

The plug door was "removed" in Seattle according to the daily work log however if the door is completely removed and noted in the official log, there is a much more complicated procedure to make sure the plug is reinstalled properly.

The answer will be in semantics - The door was removed but a couple of nuts were still attached to the fuselage so technically it never left the fuselage. That means in the official log the door was never removed and the more detailed inspection wasn't required.

The question will be who was the mechanic or shift that worked on the door and who signed off on it. That would be the criminal negligence.