US bows to international pressure and grounds Boeing 737 Max
Decision by Trump comes after Canadians cite ‘new data’ linking two recent crashes
The US has bowed to international pressure and ordered the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft after days of insisting that the plane was airworthy despite two crashes in five months.
Donald Trump, US president, announced on Wednesday that the country’s Federal Aviation Administration was grounding all of the company’s 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft after receiving updated data on the two crashes.
Mr Trump said: “Any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and be grounded upon landing until further notice.”
He added: “Boeing is an incredible company. They are working very, very hard right now. Hopefully they will very, very quickly come up with an answer, but until then the planes are grounded.”
Mr Trump’s announcement came four days after an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 aircraft crashed soon after take-off, killing all 157 people on board. That accident followed another crash last October involving the same model of aircraft, operated by Lion Air, which killed 189 people.
In the days that followed the Ethiopian Airlines crash, every other major economy grounded the 737 Max fleet, and by Wednesday afternoon the planes were only operating fully in US air space.
The FAA said it had finally made the decision to follow suit after receiving updated satellite data which showed potential similarities between the flight paths of the two aircraft that crashed.
Dan Elwell, the acting administrator of the FAA, said: “Aireon [a company which tracks flights], Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board were able to refine the initial return of the satellite to create a description of the flight that made it similar enough to Lion Air to make this decision.”
Boeing said it continued to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max. “However, after consultation with the US FAA, the US National Transportation Safety Board, and aviation authorities and its customers around the world, 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.”
Shares of Boeing fell about 2.5 per cent in the immediate wake of the announcement, but rebounded later in the day to close moderately higher at $377.14. The company has lost close to 11 per cent of its value this week.
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https://www.ft.com/content/7ad92c46-45a9-11e9-b168-96a37d002cd3
Decision by Trump comes after Canadians cite ‘new data’ linking two recent crashes
The US has bowed to international pressure and ordered the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft after days of insisting that the plane was airworthy despite two crashes in five months.
Donald Trump, US president, announced on Wednesday that the country’s Federal Aviation Administration was grounding all of the company’s 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft after receiving updated data on the two crashes.
Mr Trump said: “Any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and be grounded upon landing until further notice.”
He added: “Boeing is an incredible company. They are working very, very hard right now. Hopefully they will very, very quickly come up with an answer, but until then the planes are grounded.”
Mr Trump’s announcement came four days after an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 aircraft crashed soon after take-off, killing all 157 people on board. That accident followed another crash last October involving the same model of aircraft, operated by Lion Air, which killed 189 people.
In the days that followed the Ethiopian Airlines crash, every other major economy grounded the 737 Max fleet, and by Wednesday afternoon the planes were only operating fully in US air space.
The FAA said it had finally made the decision to follow suit after receiving updated satellite data which showed potential similarities between the flight paths of the two aircraft that crashed.
Dan Elwell, the acting administrator of the FAA, said: “Aireon [a company which tracks flights], Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board were able to refine the initial return of the satellite to create a description of the flight that made it similar enough to Lion Air to make this decision.”
Boeing said it continued to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max. “However, after consultation with the US FAA, the US National Transportation Safety Board, and aviation authorities and its customers around the world, 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.”
Shares of Boeing fell about 2.5 per cent in the immediate wake of the announcement, but rebounded later in the day to close moderately higher at $377.14. The company has lost close to 11 per cent of its value this week.
more@
https://www.ft.com/content/7ad92c46-45a9-11e9-b168-96a37d002cd3
