Boeing’s 737 Max Grounded Around the World After 2nd Fatal Crash

Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. airplane company Boeing’s 737 Max 8 fleets around the world have been suspended from flying by airlines and aviation regulators after a second fatal crash in less than five months.

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Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crashes Killing 157 People On Board 

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Tuesday that it was temporarily suspending the bloc of 737 Max 8 and 9 jets after the fatal crash Sunday of an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, which killed all 157 people on board. The European regulator joins China, Indonesia, India, Australia and most of the world’s aviation authorities as investigators work to determine the cause of the accident. 

According to the New York Times, an estimated 6,000 of the 8,600 flights that use this model have been grounded, based on data from Flightradar24, a flight tracking service. Nearly 40 airlines have announced they are taking the aircraft out of service.

The U.S. and Canada are the only two nations that have decided to stand by the jets and continue normal operations. U.S. airlines using the 737 MAX are Southwest, American Airlines and United Airlines and their neighbor in the north operate almost 40 units through Air Canada and West Jet. 

The Federal Aviation Administration’s acting administrator, Dan Elwell, said a review of the craft “shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding.” While Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said at a press conference in Montreal that he does not want to "draw hasty conclusions". 

However, their European counterparts said in a statement that “based on all available information, the agency considers that further actions may be necessary to ensure the continued airworthiness of the two affected models.”

This is the second crash, that model has been involved in, in less than five months. In October 2018, a Lion Air flight crashed near Indonesia killing all 189 people aboard, as the pilots fought an automatic safety system for control of the craft.

The accident and response from various governments have resulted in a hasty drop in the company’s stock value. From a price of US$ 422.42 on March 8, the firm's stock dropped almost 12% to US$ 371.40 as markets opened on Monday. Currently, the price stands at US$ 375.40. Boeing continues claiming that their aircraft is safe to fly.