WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee formally asked Boeing (NYSE: BA) CEO Dennis Muilenburg on Tuesday to testify on the now grounded 737 MAX that has been involved in two deadly crashes since October 2018 that killed 346 people.

The panel's chair, Representative Peter DeFazio, also asked John Hamilton, the chief engineer of Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes division, to appear. Both executives have been asked to testify on Oct. 30.

Last week, DeFazio asked Muilenburg to make several employees available for interviews as part of a congressional probe into the design, development and certification of 737 MAX aircraft.

"Boeing has received the Committee’s invitation and is reviewing it now. We will continue to cooperate with Congress and regulatory authorities as we focus on safely returning the MAX to service," a Boeing representative said in a statement.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Muralikumar Anantharaman)