MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – Germany, UK and France have banned Boeing 737 Max 8 planes from their airspaces following the tragic plane in Ethiopia on Sunday.
The countries which are European Union’s three biggest economies have joined Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Oman in banning all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes from their airspaces on Tuesday.
The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority said it had, as a precautionary measure on the Max 8, “issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying U.K. airspace.” The agency said its decision affected at least five 737 Max 8s that have been registered and are operating in the country.
The British decision also affected Norwegian Airlines, which said it would stop flying its 18 Max 8s until further notice. Norwegian, which uses Max 8s between East Coast American cities and Western Europe, acknowledged that the suspension would lead to flight delays and cancellations.
France and Germany took the step shortly after Britain did so, prompting suspension that would lead to flight delays and cancellations.
“Safety has absolute priority,” Andreas Scheuer, Germany’s transport minister, said in an interview on the N-TV news channel.
The French civil aviation authority has announced decision as Boeing investigates if theres any link between Ethiopias disaster and the crash of Lion Air flight 610, which plunged into the Java sea 12 minutes after takeoff in October.
“Given the circumstances of the accident in Ethiopia, the French authorities have taken the decision, as a precautionary measure, to ban all commercial flights of Boeing 737 MAXs into, out of, or over French territory,” the French civil aviation authority, DGAC, said in a statement.
The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 on Sunday killed all 157 passengers on board and was the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max in the last six months.
According to France 24, US senators Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to follow several other countries and temporarily ground Boeing Co’s 737 MAX.
“Out of an abundance of caution for the flying public, the FAA should ground the 737 MAX 8 until we investigate the causes of recent crashes and ensure the plane’s airworthiness,” Romney said in a tweet.
Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, said the FAA should “immediately ground this plane in the United States until its safety can be assured.”
She also called on Congress to review the decision.
“The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is a major driver of Boeing profits. In the coming weeks and months, Congress should hold hearings on whether an administration that famously refused to stand up to Saudi Arabia to protect Boeing arms sales has once again put lives at risk for the same reason,” Warren said in a statement released by her campaign, not her Senate office.
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