An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet to Nairobi crashes, killing all 157 on board. Safety doubts over Boeing’s best-selling 737 MAX 8 drove several carriers to ground the aircraft on Monday after a new jet crashed in Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board. Investigators recovered the black-box flight recorders from the Nairobi-bound jet that crashed early on Sunday near Addis Ababa, the carrier Ethiopia Airlines said. Flight ET302 went down into a field just six minutes after takeoff as the pilot alerted controllers of “difficulties”. Those on board included people from 35 countries, including some two dozen UN staff. Ethiopia decreed a day of mourning. It was the same type of jet as the Indonesian Lion Air plane that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew.
Airlines in Ethiopia, China, and Indonesia said they were suspending operations by their 737 MAX 8 fleets. The move caused Boeing shares to tumble 11.7 percent to $373.23 at opening on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, sending the benchmark index into the red. Ethiopia Airlines said investigators had found the plane’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders on Monday. It said it had grounded its fleet of six remaining Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes pending analysis of the black box data. China also ordered domestic airlines to suspend commercial operation of the MAX 8.
There were eight Chinese nationals among the 149 passengers and eight crew on the Ethiopia flight. Indonesia, which has 11 of the MAX 8 model planes, said it would “carry out inspections and temporarily prohibit Boeing 737 Max 8 from flying.” South Korea ordered an inspection of two MAX 8 planes flown by low-cost Eastar Jet. Some other airlines said they were not cancelling MAX 8 flights, including Oman Air, flydubai, Turkish Airlines, and Russia’s S7.
(Top) Workers gather at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines flight crash south of Addis Ababa. (Below left) Women mourn during a memorial ceremony for the seven crew members at the Ethiopian Pilot Association Club. (Below right) This May 2, 2018, photo, taken in Norwegian archipelago of Longyearbyen, Svalbard, shows Sarah Auffret, who has been identified as a victim of the doomed flight.—Agencies
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