Update: March 12, 2019, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern
On Tuesday, aviation authorities in the EU, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Oman also suspended
flights on Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. Several airlines also have grounded those
aircraft in their fleets, including Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Brazil's Gol Airlines, Flydubai, Icelandair, Norwegian, Turkish Airlines and South Korea's Eastar Jet.
Posted March 12, 2019, 17 1:25 p.m. Eastern
China's aviation authority has ordered the country's airlines to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft after a deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday, the second deadly crash involving the airline type in recent months.
The Ethiopian Airlines crash, which occurred shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on a flight to Nairobi and killed all 157 people aboard, remains under investigation. The digital flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered Monday morning. The Civil Aviation Administration of China grounded the aircraft type based on a "degree of similarity" to an October crash by Indonesia carrier Lion Air, which also went down shortly after takeoff and killed all aboard.
Indonesian aviation authorities also grounded the aircraft type following Sunday's crash, and Ethiopian Airlines grounded its 737 Max 8 fleet "as extra safety precaution" during the investigation.
The U.S. FAA, meanwhile, is "closely monitoring developments" and, along with the National Transportation Safety Board, will assist Ethiopian civil aviation authorities in their investigation, according to a statement. Southwest Airlines, which operates 34 737 Max 8 aircraft, the largest share among U.S. carriers, will "stay close to the investigation as it progresses," according to the carrier. "We remain confident in the safety and airworthiness of our entire fleet of more than 750 Boeing 737 aircraft, and we don't have any changes planned to 737 Max operations."