- Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed Sunday, killing all 157 passengers on board.
- The crash had eerie similarities to the Lion Air crash in October, which also involved a Boeing 737 Max 8.
- Countries and airlines around the world are grounding their Boeing 737 Max 8 fleets, including New Zealand, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Sunday, which killed all 157 people on board, was the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 in the past five months.
That has prompted a growing number of countries and airlines to ground that model of aircraft while Boeing investigates whether there’s a link between Ethiopia’s disaster and the crash of Lion Air Flight 610, which plunged into the Java Sea 12 minutes after takeoff in October.
The US’s top air-safety regulator said in a Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community, or CANIC, on Monday evening that the plane was still safe for flight and that there was no data to “draw any conclusions” linking the two disasters.
Still, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would recommend design changes to the airplane as well as software updated to the plane. Fifty-nine airlines around the world operate the plane, according to the FAA.
Canada, Britain, Australia, China, France, and more have grounded the plane. Here's who's taken action so far (this list will be updated):
Ethiopian Airlines, the carrier whose plane crashed on March 11.
Ethiopian Airlines on Monday said it would ground all of its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft "until further notice."
Accident Bulletin no. 5 Issued on March 11, 2019 at 07:08 AM Local Time pic.twitter.com/rwxa51Fgij
— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 11, 2019
Germany
German authorities barred the 737 Max 8 from the country's airspace on Tuesday, ntv Nachrichten reported. On Monday, a representative for Germany's transport ministry told Reuters that no German airliners used the 737 Max 8.
Canada
Canada's Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said Tuesday that all Boeing 737 Max 8 or 9 will be banned from Canada for an "indefinite period."
China
China's aviation authority on Monday morning local time said it had issued a notice to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes used by domestic airlines in response to Sunday's crash.
A statement posted to the Civil Aviation Administration of China's website said similarities between the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the Lion Air crash had caused concern over the Boeing aircraft.
"Safety is our number one priority and we are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved," a representative for Boeing China told Business Insider. "The investigation is in its early stages, but at this point, based on the information available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators."
United Kingdom
Britain followed suit Tuesday, barring the 737 Max 8 from its airspace until further notice.
"The UK Civil Aviation Authority has been closely monitoring the situation, however, as we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace," a representative of the UK agency said.
"We remain in close contact with the European Safety Agency (EASA) and industry regulators globally."
France
France's aviation authority on Tuesday barred the 737 Max 8 from French airspace, the agency's minister said.
Compte tenu des circonstances de l’accident survenu en Ethiopie, nous avons décidé de l’interdiction, à titre conservatoire, des #Boeing737Max dans l’espace aérien français. Nous suivons attentivement l’évolution de l’enquête. https://t.co/th7CAEYfBx
— Élisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) March 12, 2019
The Netherlands
The Netherlands followed other European countries in barring the 737 Max 8 from its airspace on Tuesday, RTL Nieuws reported.
Turkey
Turkey also suspended flights of the Boeing 737 Max 8, effective Wednesday, local news sources reported.
#BREAKING | Turkey suspends flights of Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircrafts as ‘precautionary measure’: Transport Ministry
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) March 12, 2019
Australia
On Tuesday, Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority barred all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from flying to or from the country.
"This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 MAX," CASA's director of aviation safety, Shane Carmody, told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Egypt
Egypt on Wednesday banned the passage, takeoff, and landing of any Boeing 737 Max 8 as a "precautionary measure." NO Egyptian airlines, including EgyptAir, have the plane in their fleets, the country's civil aviation ministry said.
Indonesia
Indonesia's air-safety regulator on Monday said it would halt all flights involving the planes starting Tuesday. The decision was reported Monday by Bloomberg and the Associated Press.
Singapore
Singapore on Tuesday suspended all Boeing 737 Max aircraft, not just the Max 8, from flying in and out of the city-state, The Straits Times said, citing the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
SilkAir, China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Shandong Airlines, and Thai Lion Air are frequent flyers to Singapore's Changi Airport, and all operate several 737 Max aircraft.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore added on Wednesday that it would be suspending all Boeing Max flights from operating in its airspace, Xinhua reported.
India
India's Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that it would ground the Boeing 737-Max planes "immediately".
"These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations," it said.
Ireland
Reuters reported Tuesday that Ireland would join other European countries in barring the plane from its airspace. Dublin and Shannon are major stopovers for some pan-Atlantic routes.
MORE: Irish Aviation Authority says it has decided to temporarily suspend operation of all variants of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of Irish airspace
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 12, 2019
Oman
Oman's civil aviation authority on Tuesday morning said it was suspending flights on the Boeing 737 Max into and out of all airports in the country until further notice.
State-owned Oman Air said it would suspend it's fleet of five Max 8's "as soon as possible."
"We are in the process of making the necessary rescheduling and will advise our guests of any flight cancellations," the airline said.
#PACA is temporarily suspending operations of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of all Omani airports until further notice.
— هيئة الطّيران المدني (@CAAOMN) March 12, 2019
Aeromexico
The Mexican airline Aeromexico said it was suspending six Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.
It said other planes would take over the flights usually flown by its Max 8 jets.
Gol Airlines
Brazil's Gol Airlines has suspended 121 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
The company reportedly said Monday that it began using the 737 Max 8 in June and that its aircraft had made nearly 3,000 flights with "total security and efficiency."
Norwegian Air
Norwegian Air, whose fleet is heavily made up of 737 Max 8s, also said Tuesday that it would ground the plane, according to the Norwegian news outlet E24.
Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has banned all Boeing 737 Max craft from the city's airspace.
The ban started at 6:00 p.m. (6:00 a.m. ET) on Wednesday and will remain in place until further notice, a Civil Aviation Department spokesman told the South China Morning Post.
Cayman Airways
Cayman Airways on Sunday evening said it would ground its two 737 Max 8 aircraft until more information was received.
"While the cause of this sad loss is undetermined at this time, we stand by our commitment to putting the safety of our passengers and crew first by maintaining complete and undoubtable safe operations," Cayman Airways' president and CEO, Fabian Whorms, said in a statement.
"We offer our valued customers our continued assurance that all prudent and necessary actions required for the safe operation of our Max 8's will be accomplished before the aircraft are returned to service," he said, adding that the move would require the airline to make some minor schedule and capacity changes.
Comair
The South African airline Comair also said Monday that it was grounding its 737 Max 8 out of an abundance of caution.
"Comair has decided to remove its 737 MAX 8 from its flight schedule, although neither regulatory authorities nor the manufacturer has required it to do so," Wrenelle Stander, the executive director of Comair's airline division, said in a press release.
"While Comair has done extensive preparatory work prior to the introduction of the first 737 MAX 8 into its fleet and remains confident in the inherent safety of the aircraft, it has decided temporarily not to schedule the aircraft while it consults with other operators, Boeing and technical experts."
Eastar Jet
The South Korean airline Eastar Jet said it had suspended its two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, mainly used to ferry passengers to Japan and Thailand.
An Eastar Jet official told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the planes would be replaced by Boeing 737-800 planes beginning Wednesday on routes to Japan and Thailand. She didn't want to be named, citing office rules.
She said the airline hadn't found any problems but was voluntarily grounding its 737 Max 8s in a response to customer concerns.
TUI
TUI, which operates 15 Boeing 737 Max 8s, will ground the plane across all of its routes, the German news agency DPA reported.
#BREAKING Major European travel operator Tui is halting flights with the Boeing 737 MAX 8 model across all of the group's airlines, a spokesman for the company says pic.twitter.com/YvtNB0cQJp
— dpa news agency (@dpa_intl) March 12, 2019
Royal Air Maroc
Royal Air Maroc grounded its sole Boeing 737 Max 8 on Sunday, Reuters reported.
A company official, speaking on condition of anonymity to the wire service, said Royal Air Maroc grounded its only Max 8 in use and would not fly it until Boeing completed investigations into the aircraft type.
Jet Airways
India's Jet Airways on Tuesday said it had grounded its five Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
Italy
Italy joined other European counterparts in barring the 737 Max from its airspace, local media reported.
‼️BREAKING NEWS - ULTIM’ORA
Incidente aereo Ethiopian Airlines, anche l’Italia chiude lo spazio aereo ai Boeing 737 Max fino a nuovi sviluppi nelle indagini sulle cause della tragedia.— Matteo Correani (@MatteoCorreani) March 12, 2019
Austria
Austria also grounded 737 Max aircraft, Reuters reported.
"Safety is the top priority in aviation," the country's transport minister told the wire service.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE made the decision to ground all Boeing 737 Max planes in the country late Tuesday. It initially said it joined Boeing and US authorities "to investigate and collect data" on the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
New Zealand
New Zealand's aviation authority on Wednesday local time suspended operation of the Boeing 737 Max throughout the country following talks with the US Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies.
"The CAA's assessment has taken into consideration the level of uncertainty regarding the cause of the recent Ethiopian Airlines accident plus its review of the aircraft design," CAA director Graeme Harris told reporters.
"This is a temporary suspension while we continue to monitor the situation closely."
Now read:
- Another Boeing 737 Max 8 has crashed, leaving no survivors. This time it was flying with Ethiopian Airlines.
- People of 35 different nationalities were killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, including 8 Americans
- China grounds all its Boeing 737 Max 8 planes following the deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash
- An Ethiopian Airlines passenger said he missed the crashed flight by 2 minutes: 'I'm grateful to be alive'
- Boeing set to plunge 9% after fatal 737 Max 8 crash killed 157 people in Ethiopia
- The black box from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight has been found
- Indonesia is grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes after a crash in Ethiopia killed 157 people
- Boeing's big drop is shaving more than 200 points off the Dow
- Some countries and airlines have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 after a 2nd crash involving the plane killed 157 people - here's who's taken action so far
- These are the victims of the Boeing 737 Max 8 crash in Ethiopia
- A Georgetown University law student who reportedly expressed a fear of flying is among the 157 dead in the Ethiopian Airlines crash
- The family of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 captain speaks out after deadly crash where 157 lost their lives
Brazil
Brazil became the first Latin American country to ground the Max 8 planes on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, Brazil's air travel regulator said it came to the conclusion after discussions with US authorities and Boeing. It added that only Max 8 aircrafts have been taken out of operation, and not the Max 9 planes.