The United Kingdom and several other nations on Tuesday banned the Boeing 737 Max 8 from being flown in their airspace. The development follows the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed all 157 on board on March 10.
The other nations include Malaysia, Singapore Germany, Australia, Oman and France. The United States authorities have said that they need more evidence to take a decision.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced plans to upgrade software in its 737 Max 8 planes “in the coming weeks” without making a reference to the Ethiopian Airlines crash, ABC News reported. The company said the “safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority”.
South Korea too said it had grounded the aircraft.
China on Monday said it has ordered domestic airlines to suspend commercial operation soon after the crash. Ethiopian Airways announced its decision to ground the aircraft soon after the crash. Cayman Airways also made a similar announcement.
Indian carrier SpiceJet and Jet Airways have the aircraft in its fleet. SpiceJet claimed that it has already implemented precautionary measures while flying the “highly sophisticated” Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. Jet Airways on Monday clarified that while it has five such planes, the airline is “currently not flying” any of them.
United States President Donald Trump said that airplanes are “too complex to fly”. “Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT,” Trump tweeted. “I do not know about you, but I do not want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!”
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