CASA announces Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets are banned in Australia
Fiji Airways has been banned from flying Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in or out of Australia amid safety concerns.
Fiji Airways has been banned from flying its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in or out of Australia as concerns grow about the safety of the plane following two fatal crashes in five months.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority yesterday imposed a temporary ban on all 737 Max 8 operations to and from Australia in “the best interests of safety”.
Singapore’s SilkAir also operates the aircraft to Australia but yesterday the airline grounded its fleet of 737 Max 8s until safety concerns were addressed.
Since October 29 last year, 346 people have died in two crashes involving near-new 737 Max 8s — one operated by Lion Air in Indonesia and one in Ethiopia.
Both crashes occurred minutes after take-off, with the pilots requesting to turn back because of difficulty controlling the aircraft.
The second crash, on Sunday, prompted several countries, including China, Indonesia and Singapore, to ground the aircraft and ban 737 Max 8s from flying in their countries.
CASA yesterday decided Australia should follow suit, despite the US regulator declaring the plane to be safe.
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a “continued airworthiness notification to the international community” in an effort to quell concerns about the 737 Max 8.
CASA chief executive Shane Carmody said in light of the two recent fatal accidents, the temporary suspension of Boeing 737 Max aircraft operations was the best response. “This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 Max to and from Australia,” he said.
“CASA regrets any inconvenience to passengers but believes it is important to always put safety first.”
No Australian airlines operate the 737 Max 8 but Virgin Australia has 30 of the planes on order, with the first scheduled to arrive this year.
Yesterday, a spokesman for Virgin Australia said the November delivery date would allow sufficient time to consider the outcome of crash investigations, and to reassess if necessary.
AeroMexico also grounded its Max 8 fleet yesterday and India issued an order that pilots flying the aircraft must have more than 1000 hours of flying experience.
Such sweeping bans on a particular model of aircraft have not been seen since 2013, when airlines temporarily stopped operating Boeing 787 Dreamliners because of concerns over lithium-ion batteries in the auxiliary power unit.
In an email to staff, Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said he was confident in the safety of the 737 Max.
“Since its certification and entry into service, the Max family has completed hundreds of thousands of flights safely,” he said.
The FAA airworthiness notification revealed Boeing had been ordered to make design changes to the aircraft by April, and update training requirements and flight-crew manuals.
All the changes relate to the controversial MCAS, or manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system, which is central to the investigation into last year’s Lion Air crash off Indonesia.
The preliminary report on the crash found the pilot struggled to control the aircraft as the MCAS issued nose-down orders in response to erroneous angle-of-attack sensor data.
It is not known whether the MCAS was activated in Sunday’s crash near Addis Ababa.
Investigators have recovered the voice and data recorders from the jet and Boeing, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are supporting investigative authorities in Ethiopia.
A preliminary report is expected next month.
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