The FAA has ordered the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory. The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed on Wednesday.
The evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision.
Boeing has also made it known that after consultation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), aviation authorities and its customers around the world, they have temporarily grounded their entire global fleet of 737 Max 8 aircraft days after a crash involving one of the planes killed 157 persons.
The US company, in a statement on Wednesday, said the decision to suspend operations of all 371 of the aircraft in its possession follows consultations with US authorities.
The grounding will remain in effect pending further investigation, including examination of information from the aircraft’s flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders. Boeing noted that an FAA team is in Ethiopia assisting the NTSB as parties to the investigation of the Flight 302 accident. The agency is expected to continue to the investigate.
“On behalf of the entire Boeing team, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in these two tragic accidents,” said Dennis Muilenburg, president, CEO, Chairman of The Boeing Company.
“We are supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution. Safety is a core value at Boeing for as long as we have been building airplanes; and it always will be. There is no greater priority for our company and our industry. We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again”, he concluded.
