The new 737 Max 8 is under criticism after fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia
Boeing’s newest 737 airplane model has been grounded in China, Indonesia, and Ethiopia after an Ethiopian Airlines crash which killed 157 people on Sunday. This is the second deadly crash involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 in the past five months.
In October, a 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 189 people. Similar to October 2018, Sunday’s crash took place soon after takeoff, creating worries that the 737 Max 8 are related.
Officials have not reached any conclusions linking the two incidents. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are expecting to learn more after recovering the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder from the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
According to the New York Times: “Indonesian and American aviation authorities have raised the possibility that Lion Air Flight 610’s crash was because of pilots fighting an automated anti-stall software in the Max model that may have been erroneously activated by incorrect flight data.”
Boeing released a statement today, via Twitter:
The investigation is still in the early stages, stay tuned for updates!
