China, Ethiopia suspend Boeing 737 Max 8 planes after deadly crash

Ethiopian-Airlines

China and Ethiopia have suspended all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft operating in their countries after a deadly crash on Sunday which killed 157 persons en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.

China on Monday directed its domestic airlines to suspend the commercial operation of the planes in question.

According to a spokesperson, Ethiopia followed suit by grounding all of its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

Several countries across the world are carrying out safety measures on the jets which is the latest upgrade on the Boeing 737 planes.

Chinese airlines have 96 of 737 Max jets in service, the largest in the world.

Ethiopian Airlines was using five new 737 Max 8 planes and was awaiting delivery of 25 more.

The crash, which occurred just 13 minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, comes just months after another deadly accident involving the same model in Indonesia when a Lion Air flight crashed after take-off from Jakarta in October, killing all 189 people on board.

China, in a statement, said it would only resume operation of the model after “confirming the relevant measures to effectively ensure flight safety.”

South Korea, India, and Indoniesia are some of the countries monitoring the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.