Faith has been eroded in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the American regulator that has set the standard for global airline safety. It should have taken the lead in grounding the Boeing 737 MAX 8 after a second fatal crash involving the jet in less than five months, part of its role being to certify design of the United States manufacturers’ planes. Instead, China and dozens of other governments and carriers took the initiative and only after an order from US President Donald Trump, under pressure from passengers, pilots and lawmakers, did it make the decision. A better way is needed to ensure the world’s skies are safe.

China, Hong Kong and Singapore acted promptly after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed about six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board, among them eight Chinese including a Hongkonger. There was good reason; in suspiciously similar circumstances less than five months earlier, a Lion Air jet crashed into the sea off the Indonesian island of Java 12 minutes after leaving Jakarta, claiming all 189 lives. One by one, governments and airlines in Asia, Europe and Africa grounded or barred it, making the inaction from the FAA and Boeing conspicuous.

The FAA, which initially said the plane was safe to fly, made its decision after investigators visited the Ethiopian crash site and compared satellite data that appeared to show both tragedies involved similar flight movements. Boeing grounded all 371 of the aircraft in operation, a move that also puts on hold the more than 5,000 orders made. But the alarm bells should have been ringing after the Indonesian accident; the preliminary report highlighted a faulty sensor, erroneous flight data and software that the pilots were unable to override. The plane, although marketed by Boeing as a more fuel-efficient and passenger-friendly upgrade of the 737, had engines higher and farther out along the wings than earlier generations, requiring the software to correct pitch during flight.