Rabat – Donald Trump has given in to mounting international pressure following the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crash, announcing the grounding of all Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 jets.
The decision came on Wednesday, March 13, following the tragic plane crash that killed all 157 passengers onboard.
“Any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and thereafter be grounded until further notice. The safety of the American people, and all people is our paramount concern,” president Trump stated.
stating his confidence in the safety of the 737 MAX jets, Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg expressed his dissatisfaction on Monday, saying that this accident is a reminder of the leadership role the company assumes and their “enduring commitment to safety.”
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pointed out to the similarities between the Jakarta crash and that of Ethiopia, saying further investigations should be carried out to determine the causes of the crash and address it.
He added, “tragedies like this affect the entire aerospace industry.”
Read also: 2 Moroccans Among Victims of Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crash
Morocco’s national flag carrier Royal Air Maroc, which received its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 in December and expected an additional two, also closed its airspace indefinitely to all the operations of all its Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on March 11.
The Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302, which crashed only six minutes after it had taken off, killing all 157 passengers on board, including two Moroccans. El Hassan Sayouty, a researcher at Hassan II University in Casablanca and Chihab Ben Ahmed, a regional director for the environment of Morocco’s eastern Draa-Tafilalet region died in the crash.
In a tweet, the Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani extended his most sincere condolences to Sayouty’s bereaved family.
The plane took to the air from the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia airport headed for Nairobi.
Due to the incident, the company’s revenue will likely decrease, as the company had planned to deliver 579 MAXs this year, amounting to $32 billion.
China, which receives one-third of the companies deliveries, may also ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes.
This is the second recent fatal plane crash involving the 737 MAX 8 jets. The first deadly crash, a Lion Air flight, occurred in October 2018. 189 passengers died in the crash.
Marc Garneau, the Canadian minister of transport, explained that experts say the two plane crashes had things in common, noting “they exceeded the level of resemblance regarding the reasons of the Ethiopian crash.”
Investigations carried out by the Canadian government into the Lion Air crash confirmed on an anonymous NASA database that the plane’s destabilizer system and Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCA) had been dysfunctional.
