House panel asks Boeing CEO to testify about grounded plane

A U.S. House of Representatives panel on Tuesday formally invited Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg to testify on the grounded 737 MAX that has been involved in two deadly crashes since October 2018 in which a total of 346 people were killed.

Dozens of grounded Boeing 737 MAX airplanes, including one for Icelandair, right, and TUI Airlines, center, crowd a parking area adjacent to Boeing Field Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Seattle. [File Photo: AP via IC/Elaine Thompson]

Peter DeFazio, chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, also asked John Hamilton, chief engineer of the company's commercial airplanes division, to appear before the panel.

Muilenburg and Hamilton have been asked to testify on Oct. 30.

"Boeing has received the Committee's invitation and is reviewing it now," a Boeing representative said in a statement.

"We will continue to cooperate with Congress and regulatory authorities as we focus on safely returning the MAX to service," it added.

Last week, DeFazio and another lawmaker asked Muilenburg to make several Boeing employees available for interviews with the committee staff.

DeFazio's committee has held three hearings since May focusing on the scrutinized plane, but no one from Boeing has testified.