A total of 50 countries, including the US, haseither grounded or banned the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes following the crash of anEthiopian Airlines plane of the same model that killed all 157 people on boardearlier this week.
US President Donald Trump spoke to the mediabefore the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday grounded allBoeing 737 Max jets in the country, CNN reported.
“I didn’t want to take any chances. Wedidn’t have to make this decision today,” Trump said.
“We could have delayed it. We maybedidn’t have to make it at all. But I felt it was important both psychologicallyand in a lot of other ways.”
Trump said his decision was fact-based, evenas he admitted it was made partly with regard for the mental well-being ofAmerican travellers.
“The safety of the American people, ofall people, is our paramount concern,” he added.
Of the more than 370 Boeing 737 Max jets inglobal fleets, 74 are flown by US airlines, according to the FAA. Those includeUnited Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines.
Mexico also took action against Boeing 737 Max8 planes on Wednesday evening, just hours after the US’ decision to suspend theplanes’ operation inside the country.
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation saidthey were banned until further notice to “guarantee the safety andconfidence” of aircraft flying in Mexican airspace.
On Thursday, South Korea and Thailand joinedthe list of countries that have suspended operations of the planes
South Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air,announced it would be putting on hold plans to introduce Boeing 737 Max 8s intotheir fleet.
Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority announcedall operations of Max 8 and Max 9 planes would be temporarily suspended untilmidnight on March 20.
Some of the other countries that have moved toground the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft include India, China, the European Union,the UK, Canada and Australia.
Meanwhile, the black boxes from the EthiopianAirlines flight 302 will arrive in Paris for analysis on Thursday morning, avital clue into what caused the Nairobi-bound aircraft to crash six minutesafter take-off from Addis Ababa.
The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis forCivil Aviation Safety (BEA) will conduct the investigation into the recordersbut a spokesman for the bureau said they wouldn’t be announcing the results.
“Only the Ethiopian authorities willreport on the progress of the investigation. There will be no pressconference,” a BEA spokesman told CNN.
Sunday’s crashcame less than five months aftera Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 – the same type of plane – plunged into the JavaSea minutes into the flight from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people onboard.
Both planes were new, delivered from Boeingjust months before their doomed flights.