Donald Trump grounds 737 Max 8s in the US after new evidence found from latest crash
New evidence retrieved from the wreckage of the Ethiopian Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner has led to US President Donald Trump grounding the jet in America.
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New evidence retrieved from the wreckage of the Ethiopian Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner has led to US President Donald Trump grounding the jet in America.
The decision comes after countries across the world including Australia banned the jet from their skies following Sunday’s fatal crash that killed all 157 people on board.
Five months earlier the same model Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air crashed into the sea off Indonesia last October killing 189 people on board.
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Both crashes happened just after takeoff and are being linked by aviation experts to an anti-stall device that takes control of the plane from the pilot and puts it into a dive.
“I didn’t want to take any chances. We didn’t have to make this decision today,” Mr Trump said. “But I felt it was important psychologically and in a lot of other ways.”
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded the planes yesterday saying similarities between the Ethiopian Airways and Lion Air crashes “warrant further investigation of the possibility of a shared cause for the two incidents that needs to be better understood and addressed.”
FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell said the grounding of the Boeing Max fleet came after it had received new information from the flight data and voice recorders.
“Since this accident occurred we were resolute that we would not take action until we had data.”
That data tied the Ethiopian crash to the Lion Air crash. More information is expected once data from the black box recorder is analysed by experts in Paris.
However US-based aircraft-tracking firm Aireon said it had provided satellite data to the FAA and Transport Canada showing the erratic vertical movement of the Ethiopian jet two days ago.
Boeing, which has seen $US32 billion wiped off the value of its company as its credibility comes under fire across the globe, backed Mr Trump’s decision.
A statement issued by the company said: “Boeing has determined — out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety — to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 737 MAX aircraft.”
The company has orders for 5000 of the new jets including 30 from Virgin Australia which has now said it will not take delivery of those jets unless it is completely satisfied they are safe.