Boeing 737 MAX 8: US says ‘no basis’ to suspend troubled jet, but at least 45 countries disagree
- US increasingly isolated as the number of countries that have grounded the Boeing jet grows
US aviation regulators said there was “no basis” to suspend flights of Boeing’s 737 MAX jet after two fatal crashes that prompted several airlines and at least 45 countries to either ground the troubled aircraft or bar it from their airspace.
“Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft. Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action,” the Federal Aviation Administration’s acting administrator Daniel Elwell, said.
The groundings come after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet crashed on Sunday, six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people on board, including seven Chinese nationals and one Hongkonger.
On October 29 last year, another MAX jet flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea, 12 minutes after take-off, killing all 189 passengers and crew.