The United States on Wednesday joined more than 60 nations and airlines around the world that have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8, the aircraft model that was involved in the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people.
The governments and airlines have suspended the use of the jets or banned them from entering their airspace. The list now includes the entire European Union, China and Australia, as well as airlines in Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Norway.
Canada also banned the aircraft Wednesday, followed by the United States when President Donald Trump announced that the FAA would order all Boeing Max 7 and 8 jets grounded.
Before Wednesday afternoon the Federal Aviation Administration had resisted calls to ground the planes. "Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft," it said in a statement Tuesday night. "Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action."
Before Sunday’s crash, the 737 Max planes were heavily used, taking more than 9,000 flights in a single week and reaching almost every continent.
Sunday’s crash was the second involving a 737 Max jet since October 2018, when a new Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed soon after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia.
