Plane Crash: Australia and Singapore Join others to ground 148 Boeing 737 Max 8s

– As Panic heightens in Nigeria over Air Peace Boeing 737-Max 8 order

Nearly 40 per cent of 371 Boeing 737 Max 800 in operation globally have been grounded as Australia and Singapore joined the growing list of nations banning the use of the troubled aircraft.

This is despite assurances by the United States aviation authorities that the plane is safe.

Aviation industry publication said China, with 97 Max 800 planes in service, accounts for the bulk of the grounded planes, estimated at 148. There are 371 Boeing 737 Max 800 planes in service.

Ethiopian Airlines, which has four other 737 MAX 8 jets, said it was grounding them as a precaution.

Gol in Brazil temporarily suspended MAX 8 flights, as did Argentina’s state airline Aerolineas Argentinas and Mexico’s Aeromexico.

Singapore Airlines, whose SilkAir brand operates 6 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, said it has temporarily withdrawn its fleet and would re-accommodate affected customers.

Other airlines that operate Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to Singapore – China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Shandong Airlines and Thai Lion Air – are also affected.

Although the United States later modified its position on the safety of the plane, by saying it will mandate Boeing to implement design changes by April for the 737 MAX 8, Australia and Singapore felt that precautionary steps are necessary after the second fatal crash of the plane, killing 157 people in Ethiopia.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority followed Singapore’s lead with a temporary suspension to review the risks, citing the best interests of safety.

Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAS) showed question-marks hanging over the aircraft after Sunday’s disaster could not be dispelled so fast.

“During the temporary suspension, CAAS will gather more information and review the safety risk associated with the continued operation of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of Singapore,” the regulator said in a statement.

It was the first major regulator to order such an action, but the anxiety was also evident among air travellers, who rushed to find out from social media whether they were booked to fly on 737 MAX planes – the same model involved in the Lion Air crash off Indonesia that killed 189 people in October.

There has been no information yet to link the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines incidents.

On Monday, Indonesia, Ethiopia, China announced they were grounding their fleets of the U.S. planemaker’ s latest model, after the second crash in five months.

Nearly 40 percent of the in-service fleet of 371 Boeing 737 MAX jets globally is grounded, according to industry publication Flightglobal, including 97 jets in the biggest market, China.

The scare has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of the world’s biggest planemaker, as the Boeing Co share closed 5 percent down on Monday having fallen by as much as 13.5 percent at one point.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a “continued airworthiness notification” for the 737 MAX late on Monday to assure operators, and detailed a series of design changes mandated by Boeing.

Boeing issued a statement as well, saying it had been working with the FAA in the aftermath of a Lion Air crash to develop enhancements to flight control software that will be deployed across the 737 MAX fleet in coming weeks.

The new MAX 8 variant of the 737, the world’s best-selling modern passenger aircraft, has bigger engines designed to use less fuel. It entered service in 2017.

With another 4,661 on order, 737 Max 8s could become the workhorses for airlines around the globe for decades

Meanwhile, air travellers in Nigeria have expressed worry over the recent order made by Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest domestic carrier, for the purchase of 10 Boeing 737 MAX jets, following the air accidents involving the particular type of aircraft in the past few months.

Although Air Peace clarified that it had yet to take delivery of the aircraft, some passengers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, urged the airline to review its deal with Boeing considering the fact that the aircraft in question was involved in two recent fatal accidents.

It will be recalled, that, only on Sunday, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operating flight ET302 en route Nairobi from Addis Ababa crashed six minutes after take-off, killing 157 persons on board.

The Ethiopian Airlines aircraft crash was the second involving the B737 MAX 800 jets in the past four months following October 2018 crash that involved a Lion Air plane which crashed into the sea off Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 189 people on board.

“The air accidents involving the particular type of aircraft are becoming too much and frightening. It’s even more terrifying to know that our own Air Peace is about taking delivery of that type of aircraft,” Anyaogu Stanley, a passenger at the NAIA, said.

Another traveller, Emmanuel Oyekanmi, said, “Let’s hope the management of Air Peace will review their position as regards the purchase of those aircraft until the issues with the aircraft are adequately resolved.”

But reacting to enquiries from passengers and other airport users on Monday, the Corporate Communications Manager, Air Peace, Mr Chris Iwarah, said the airline had yet to take delivery of the eight ordered aircraft.

He said the aircraft were still at the design and configuration stage, adding that the clarification became necessary in view of numerous calls and enquiries on our response to the incidents involving the B737 MAX 8 aircraft.

He said, “Although it is premature to comment on the incident, we wish to assure members of the flying public that we are closely following and monitoring developments on the issue as an airline that prioritises the safety and well-being of our customers.

“While we keep engaging with our partners in this regard, we repose implicit confidence in Boeing and aviation authorities to capably and satisfactorily address all the issues if at the conclusion of ongoing investigations it is discovered that the challenge is with the B737-Max 8.