A photograph from January 26, 2010, shows an Ethiopian Boeing 777 aircraft departing a hangar in Nairobi. AFP PHOTO
Ethiopian Airlines has suspended operations of its four Boeing 737 Max aircraft, keeping them grounded in Addis Ababa. The decision followed a crash that killed all 157 people aboard a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on March 11, 2019.
The airline stated in a Sunday release: "Although the accident’s cause remains undetermined, we opted to ground the fleet as a precautionary measure while investigations proceed."
China’s civil aviation authority has halted operations for 13 airlines operating Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, affecting nearly 100 planes. The directive applies to all domestic Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, which share the same model as the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane. CAAC statement: https://t.co/Sh1gJTSeag pic.twitter.com/NeQG1bOJJT — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 11, 2019
Flight data from FlightRadar24 revealed instability two minutes after takeoff, with the aircraft maintaining 7,500 feet altitude and 600 knots speed for three minutes before losing contact. The plane had departed from Johannesburg, South Africa, before the crash.
Chinese authorities mandated all domestic Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets to cease operations by 6 pm local time on March 11, citing a "zero tolerance" policy for safety risks. This follows a similar crash in October 2019 involving a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 off Indonesia’s coast, which killed 189 people.
