KUALA LUMPUR: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed that the blown-off door plug of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737 MAX 9 was manufactured in Malaysia.
Its chairman Jennifer Homendy said the door plug was manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems in Malaysia before reaching Boeing's supplier in Wichita, Kansas.
From there, she said, the part was sent to the Boeing assembly line in Renton, Washington, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
Homendy said the NTSB is looking into how the plug door was manufactured, transported, installed and put into service and will also cover the quality checks throughout the supply chain.
"We have no indication right now of where in the process this occurred.
"This could be anywhere along the line, and we are not just pinpointing manufacturing," Homendy said after a closed-door briefing with members of the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
Several senators who attended the briefing said the jets might need to remain grounded until the investigation identifies the root cause.
US Senate Commerce Committee chairman Maria Cantwell said there may be a hearing to examine the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight of Boeing's manufacturing.
Meanwhile, Texas senator Ted Cruz said there was a need to prevent similar accidents in the future, but expressed uncertainty about who would be held responsible for this particular incident.
Previously on Jan 12, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said no information had been received about a 'Made in Malaysia' door plug allegedly blown-off an Alaska Airlines flight.
Loke said the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) however would look into the matter if the airline concerned submitted a formal report.
This comes after a report by the Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) news portal, school teacher Bob Sauer recounted how he had found the door plug that had torn off from an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft on Jan 5.
Earlier, Spirit AeroSystems, the manufacturer of the door plug for the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, has chosen not to provide any comments on the issue.
The company said it had been working closely with the NTSB investigation team in regard to the incident.