US President Donald Trump announced his decision on Wednesday to ground all Boeing 737 MAX jets, following the second major crash within five months.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2019
“We’re gonna be issuing an emergency order of prohibition to ground all flights of the 737 Max 8 and the 737 Max 9 and planes associated with that line,”
Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
The move marks a stunning turnaround from the U.S, which has stood by the American-made aircraft, as dozens of countries around the world grounded the planes.
Trump said he had spoke with Boeing’s CEO, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the acting head of the FAA, Daniel Elwell.
“They are all in agreement with the action. Any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and thereafter be grounded until further notice,”
he said.
Boeing said it decided to ground its global fleet of 737 MAX aircraft in an “abundance of caution” after talking with U.S. aviation regulators.
“On behalf of the entire Boeing team, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in these two tragic accidents. We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again.” Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement.
Of the more than 370 Boeing 737 Max jets in global fleets, 74 are flown by U.S. airlines, according to the FAA. Those include United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines.
Below are the Boeing and FAA twitter statements:
In Consultation with the FAA, NTSB and its Customers, Boeing Supports Action to Temporarily Ground 737 MAX Operations: https://t.co/YGgmgAZK3O pic.twitter.com/5bnxevuzlD
— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) March 13, 2019
#FAA statement on the temporary grounding of @Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in a U.S. territory. pic.twitter.com/tCxSakbnbH
— The FAA (@FAANews) March 13, 2019
Trump did not issue an ‘executive order’ at all, neither did he have any hand in this decision. . The FAA, advised by Boeing, made this decision and the FAA issued an Emergency Order. The FAA acts on facts and not speculation, opinions or political expediencies.
Can anyone tell me why, after a worldwide ban of Max 8, it appears on FlightAware that there are still about 48 of them in the air as Thursday morning 7:20am (EST)?
There are many appearing to be in flight over Indian airspace (after a total airspace ban two days ago) and there is even a Westjet flight that departed from Hawaii about 30 mins ago, listed as a Max 8 on its way to Calgary. If Canada banned the Max 8 from airspace yesterday morning, how will it be permitted to land?
Is Flightaware showing inaccurate data as per aircraft types (have been swapped out but not updated on the site), or are these last flights permitted to make their way back to major airline hubs for grounding?
A curious aviation geek wants to know! Thanks 🙂
Some 737 MAX were flying back as ferry flights without passengers.
Nothing like uninformed political/panic decisions. Hate to see politics dictate aviation safety in lieu of engineering and scientific fact.
Ironic that all Airbus aircraft and all Boeing’s since the 777 are essentially flown by computer and pilots get a vote.
Likely the issues with the Max have to do with the detail and depth of the crew training and understanding of how the software functions rather than any mechanical issues.
That said, until the initial evaluation of the CVR and DFR is finished, everything else is speculation.
Safety is paramount. When you have two very similar fatal accidents within a short period of time with the same aircraft you can not put lives at risk.
Remember that the failure to ground the 737 when the actuators were causing rudder hardovers led to hundreds of needless deaths.
Yes, we should not jump to conclusions until the investigation are complete but until then we do not know if this aircraft is safe, there are too many questions that need answering first!