Canada’s aviation authorities grounded Boeing’s 737 MAX jets today, leaving the U.S. as the last major air travel market where they can fly. Two of the brand-new airliners have crashed, killing hundreds of travelers.
(UPDATE: Trump grounded it in the U.S., with a tweet.)
The UK, the European Union, China, Australia and India are among the countries that have suspended the Boeing 737 Max from their airspace.
However, the US Federal Aviation Administration said a review had showed “no systemic performance issues” and that there was no basis for grounding the aircraft.
On Wednesday, the chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, told the BBC that all 737 Max aircraft worldwide should be grounded until the causes of the crash were known.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that pilots in the US had complained about problems controlling the Boeing 737 Max 8 during take-off, echoing difficulties that contributed to the fatal Lion Air crash in Indonesia last October.
Boeing’s seeming regulatory capture of the FAA is bad news: it undermines public trust in aviation (which is extremely safe) for the sake of one company’s short-term economic interests. Even if no more of its deathliners fall out the sky, that erosion of trust will lead to conspiracy theories and explosive ignorance when it sits and rots in the dark places of the internet.
Previously: Airline pilots have been complaining for months about Boeing’s deathliner