US Justice Department issues subpoenas in criminal investigation of Boeing

The United States Justice Department on Thursday issued multiple subpoenas as a part of criminal investigation into the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) certification and marketing of Boeing 737 Max planes.

Quoting sources, CNN reported that US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Tuesday (local time) asked the inspector general of the Justice Department to investigate Boeing's certification and safety procedures, including training manuals for pilots, along with how the company marketed the new aircraft.

The criminal investigation of Boeing planes was initiated after the Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea, off the coast of Indonesia, in October 2018.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Seattle office and Justice Department's criminal division in Washington are leading the investigation.

The safety of the 737 Max planes has been questioned after it was involved in two fatal crashes in less than five months. The Boeing aircraft has been grounded by scores of governments and airlines citing safety concerns following the recent (March 10) Ethiopian Airlines crash which claimed the lives of all 157 people on board.

Boeing is still building the planes, but it said last week that it would temporarily stop delivering them to airlines while it determines what caused the two crashes, sources told CNN.

However, the investigation into the black box data of Ethiopian Airlines indicated "clear similarities" between the crash that took place last week and Lion Air which crashed in Indonesia last year.

In a statement, Boeing had said that it remains confident in the safety of the jets, but that it recommended the shutdown itself "out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft's safety.