Pressure on Boeing grows as Buttigieg says the company needs to cooperate with investigations

With Boeing facing aggregate authorities investigations, the institution needs to marque "a superior transformation" astir its information and manufacturing quality, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday.

The comments came 1 time aft Buttigieg said the craft builder is nether "enormous" scrutiny by his section since a sheet blew disconnected a Boeing 737 Max jetliner successful midflight.

It besides comes aft connection that a whistleblower has been recovered dormant of an evident suicide.

Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice launched a transgression probe into the Jan. 5 blowout connected an Alaska Airlines jet. That followed the company's admittance that it couldn't find records that the National Transportation Safety Board sought for enactment done connected the sheet astatine a Boeing factory.

The Federal Aviation Administration, portion of Buttigieg's department, is besides investigating Boeing.

"Obviously we respect the independency of DOJ (the Department of Justice) and NTSB (the National Transportation Safety Board) doing their ain work," Buttigieg told reporters Monday, "but we are not neutral connected the question of whether Boeing should afloat cooperate with immoderate entity - NTSB, us, oregon DOJ. They should, and we expect them to."

Buttigieg said Boeing indispensable "go done a superior translation present successful presumption of their responsiveness, their civilization and their prime issues."

Boeing gave a one-sentence response.

"We volition proceed to cooperate afloat and transparently with each authorities investigations and audits, arsenic we instrumentality broad enactment to amended information and prime astatine Boeing," the institution said.

Alaska Airlines said it is cooperating with the Justice Department investigation.

"In an lawsuit similar this, it's mean for the DOJ to beryllium conducting an investigation," the Seattle-based hose said successful a statement. "We are afloat cooperating and bash not judge we are a people of the investigation."

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Boeing failed 33 of 89 FAA audits during an introspection pursuing the blowout connected the Alaska Airlines jet.

The wide-ranging, six-week audit recovered dozens of problems successful assorted parts of the 737 Max, the paper reported, citing a descent presumption connected the audits of aspects of the accumulation process.

The study said 7 of 13 audits that focused connected Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the assemblage of the aircraft, besides failed. One illustration cited was the usage of liquid Dawn crockery soap to lubricate a doorway seal during a "fit-up" process.

The audits dealing with the doorway plug, the portion that blew disconnected the Alaska Airlines jet, recovered issues astatine some Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems.

In an emailed remark connected the report, Boeing said Tuesday that it was continuing to instrumentality changes and to "develop a broad enactment program to fortify information and quality, and physique the assurance of our customers and their passengers."

"We are squarely focused connected taking significant, demonstrated enactment with transparency astatine each turn," the institution said.

Meanwhile, a Boeing whistleblower who raised concerns astir accumulation standards has been recovered dormant aft an evident suicide.

The assemblage of 62-year-old John Barnett, who was a longtime Boeing worker and prime manager, was recovered successful Charleston, South Carolina, wherever helium was being questioned successful a lawsuit against the company.

In 2019, Barnett told the BBC that workers deliberately utilized faulty parts connected the accumulation line. However, Boeing has denied his claims, according to ABC News.

In a statement, Boeing said, "We are saddened by Mr. Barnett's passing and our thoughts are with his household and friends."

Last week, Boeing, which is based successful Arlington, Virginia, came nether withering disapproval by NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy implicit the missing enactment records connected the Alaska jet. She told a Senate committee that Boeing had repeatedly rebuffed her agency's attempts to get accusation ever since the blowout. Boeing disputed immoderate of Homendy's claims; NTSB stood by her testimony.

The FAA has barred Boeing from boosting accumulation of Max jets and gave the institution 90 days to travel up with a program to hole quality-control issues.

ABC News contributed to this report.