An emergency order has now grounded Boeing 737 Max jets in the US

By Charlotte Jee

March 14, 2019

The US Federal Aviation Administration has grounded Boeing 737 Max jets after “new information and physical evidence” emerged about Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia, President Donald Trump has announced.

Why? The FAA said the decision was taken after it found that the Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed 157 people, had a very similar pattern to a Lion Air crash last October that killed 189 people.

Holdouts: The FAA had been under growing pressure to act. Over 40 countries have already implemented their own temporary bans, including all European Union member states.

This story is only available to subscribers.

Don’t settle for half the story.
Get paywall-free access to technology news for the here and now.

Already a subscriber?

You’ve read all your free stories.

MIT Technology Review provides an intelligent and independent filter for the flood of information about technology.

Already a subscriber?

Boeing has now supported the ban. Hundreds of flights in the US every day take place on Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft, so it’s likely to have a significant impact for passengers.

Investigations under way: The black boxes from the Ethiopian Airlines plane have been sent to France for examination. Boeing has promised a software update for this specific model next month, but in the meantime, most regulators don’t want to take any risks.

For more on this story read: A second 737 Max crash raises questions about airplane automation

This article first appeared in our daily newsletter The Download. Sign up here to get your dose of the latest must-read news from the world of emerging tech.

This is your last free story.

Our most popular stories