Singapore and Australia’s aviation authorities have temporarily banned Boeing 737 Max aircraft from flying into and out of their countries. This decision comes after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Max 8 crashed on Sunday killing everyone on board.
This is the second fatal accident involving that model in less than five months. Singapore’s Changi Airport is the sixth busiest and major hub connecting Asia to Europe and the US. Only a few airlines operate a Max aircraft in and out of the country. No Australian airlines operate the Boeing 737 Max and only to airlines fly the model into the country.
Shane Carmody, who is in charge of aviation safety at Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said the suspension would remain in place while the organisation awaited “for more information to review the safety risks”.
Several airlines and regulators around the world have already grounded the Max 8 model following the crash.
Aviation consultant Ian Thomas said: “This is sure to lead to significant flight cancellations and disruption to schedules as the airlines involved switch to other aircraft types (assuming they are available).”
The Boeing 737 Max fleet of aircraft are the latest in the company’s successful 737 line. The group contains the Max 7,8,9 and 10 models. By the end of January, Boeing had delivered 350 of the Max 8 models out of 5,011 orders.
Following the last October crash in Indonesia, investigators said the pilots had appeared to have a struggle with an automated system which is designed to keep the plane from stalling, this is a new feature. It is not clear what caused Sundays crash.
US aviation officials have said the 737 Max 8 is airworthy and that it is too early to reach any conclusions or take any action.
Both TUI and Norwegian say they will continue to operate 737 Max planes in and out of the UK.
