A federal official says the part that blew off a jetliner was made in Malaysia by a Boeing supplier

A federal official says the part that blew off an Alaska Airlines jetliner over Oregon this month was manufactured in Malaysia by a key Boeing supplier

The panel that blew out of an Alaska Airlines jetliner this month was manufactured in Malaysia by Boeing’s leading supplier, the head of the agency investigating the incident said Wednesday.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said her agency will look into how the part was produced by Spirit AeroSystems and installed on the plane. She made the comments to reporters in Washington after a closed-door briefing for senators.

Spirit did not comment immediately.

Separately, officials said airlines have inspected 40 planes identical to the one involved in the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration said it will review information from those inspections of Boeing 737 Max 9 jets while it develops a maintenance process before letting the planes carry passengers again.

Boeing’s CEO spent the day visiting Spirit AeroSystems' headquarters and factory in Wichita, Kansas, and vowed that the two companies will work together to “get better.”