Passengers on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max plane that lost a panel midflight are accusing the airplane manufacturer of fraud, according to new filings in a civil lawsuit stemming from the Jan. 5 incident over Portland, Oregon.

Those passengers allege Boeing defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Justice and the flying public with statements that the company had improved its safety culture in the five years since two deadly Max crashes killed 346 people.

When a panel blew off a 737 Max 9 headed out of Portland in January, federal regulators and the flying public began to reexamine whether Boeing had made enough changes to its safety culture, manufacturing practices and compliance with safety regulations.

“Boeing knew about the safety problems and repeatedly promised everyone it would fix them,” said attorney Dan Laurence, who is representing 37 passengers who were on the Alaska Airlines flight. “Now it is clear that was public relations covering up much deeper failures, so it could maximize aircraft deliveries.”

Laurence, an attorney with the Stritmatter firm in Seattle, is one of several attorneys representing Alaska Flight 1282 passengers suing Boeing, Alaska and Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems following the blowout. The Stritmatter firm filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Boeing and Alaska in January claiming both companies were negligent and did not ensure the plane was safe to fly.

On Friday, the firm updated its complaint to include allegations of fraud and corporate misconduct, and to seek punitive damages. It also dropped the class action status, choosing instead to file individual claims arising out of the same conduct, and added Spirit as a defendant.

The firm is seeking punitive damages under Illinois law, where Boeing was headquartered until 2022 and where it made many corporate decisions regarding its culture, compliance and manufacturing processes, attorneys representing the passengers alleged.

Boeing did not immediately respond to the claims Friday. In March, in court documents responding to the original complaint, Boeing denied it had failed to design and construct the 737 Max 9 plane safely, and allegations that it had prioritized profits and speed of production over safety. It asked the court to drop the claims against it.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the panel blowout. The investigation found four bolts meant to secure the panel in place were missing.

The new allegations of fraud against Boeing could ultimately connect the Alaska Airlines incident with the Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.

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