China, Ethiopia suspend use of all Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet after crash
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has suspended the entire fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircrafts operated by all the airlines in the country after one of the planes crashed mysteriously in Ethiopia on Sunday.
Ethiopian Airlines had already grounded the rest of its fleet of the aircraft until the cause of the crash that killed all 157 people on board is determined.
The crash which was the second fatal incident involving the 737 MAX 8 aircraft has raised concerns among airline operators over the safety of the narrowbody jet that first began service in 2017.
It was the same model of Boeing aircraft operated by Indonesian Lion Jet Air that crashed into the ocean in October, 2018, killing all 187 people on board.
Boeing expressed sadness over the crash and offered to render technical assistance where necessary, while declining to comment on whether the line of aircraft has some technical issues given that both crashes happened few minutes after take-off.
A total number of 100 Boeing 737 MAX 8 have been affected by the ban in China and the country’s aviation regulator says it will resume flying the jets after it receives confirmation of flight safety from the U.S Federal Aviation Administration.
