US opens safety probe into Boeing

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Thursday it is launching a safety probe into Boeing following last week's near-catastrophic incident on an Alaska Airlines-operated 737 MAX.

"This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again," the FAA said in a statement, after a panel known as a "door plug" blew out of the plane over the western US state of Oregon.

The FAA probe -- which could result in a financial penalty on Boeing -- marks an escalation by the agency into the episode, the first major in-flight safety issue on a Boeing plane since the fatal 2018 and 2019 737 MAX crashes that led to a lengthy grounding of the aircraft.