Airline operators in at least eight countries, have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 model, following Sunday’s Ethiopian Air crash.
One hundred and fifty seven passengers including citizens from thirty five countries and crew on board the plane died, when the plane, which took off from the Addis Ababa airport, heading to Nairobi, Kenya, came down six minutes after, leaving behind it, tales of pain across the world.
The countries where Boeing 737 Max 8 have been grounded include China, Ethiopia, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Cayman Island and United Kingdom.
Boeing has confirmed that it will deploy a software upgrade to the 737 MAX 8, a few hours after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would mandate “design changes” in the aircraft by April.
The U.S Federal Aviation Administration says it would require the changes in less than two months.
Just hours later, Boeing responded by confirming it will deploy a software upgrade to the 737 MAX 8 – saying it’s designed to make an “already safe aircraft even safer”
Boeing’s new model has had two fatal crashes within five months, the first just last October in Indonesia.
The company says changes to the 737 MAX 8 have been in the works since.
The 737 line, which has flown for more than 50 years, is the world’s best-selling modern aircraft and viewed as one of the industry’s most reliable.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Airworthiness and Aircraft Operation Directorate have inspected all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes following the deadly crash involving the aircraft in Ethiopia.
The inspection was focused on the Angle of Attack system of the aircraft which was one of the causes of Lion Air’s JT 610 crash last year.
