Why are you still flying them?
Airlines facing backlash from passengers after Ethiopia plane tragedy
‘If it can go wrong it will go wrong’
BUDGET airlines were last night facing a backlash from worried passengers after refusing to ground their Boeing 737 Max 8 planes following the second crash involving the aircraft.
Holidaymakers due to fly in the coming weeks rushed to check whether they were set to travel on the aeroplane.
As officials yesterday confirmed at least nine Britons were among the dead in Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines tragedy, calls grew for the planes to be grounded until the cause of the crash is discovered. Labour peer and former airline pilot Lord Tunnicliffe said not doing so amounted to a ‘dereliction of duty’.
Lord Tunnicliffe, who has flown previous models of the Boeing 737, called on ministers to stop the aircraft flying until there was ‘a satisfactory explanation’.
The crash minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia – which killed all 157 on board – is the second involving this new generation of more fuel-efficient, cleaner planes in less than five months.
A Lion Air Boeing 737 Max crashed into the sea near Jakarta, Indonesia, in October last year, killing all 189 passengers and crew. Lord Tunnicliffe said initial reports ‘strongly suggest’ the tragedies were related.
TUI and Norwegian are the only airlines that currently fly the aircraft in Britain. TUI has 15 flying from Manchester. Norwegian, which operates flights from London Gatwick and Edinburgh, has 18 of the planes.
Transport minister Baroness Sugg said the Civil Aviation Authority was working closely with European Aviation Safety Agency.
She said: ‘The current position is more information is needed to warrant any grounding decision.’
But Lord Tunnicliffe said: ‘In my day we had a rule – if it can go wrong it will go wrong. The industry seems to have lost sight of this.’
Authorities in China, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Mongolia and the Cayman Islands have acted swiftly and grounded the aircraft.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said that while it still considered the jets to be ‘airworthy’, it wants Boeing to submit ‘ design changes’ by next month.
Last night Graham Stringer, a Labour member of the Commons Transport Committee, said: ‘Precaution should be the key word. It might be a statistical fluke.
‘But I would not blame any passenger for refusing to get on one of these planes.’
Holidaymakers took to social media to voice their concerns. Lucy Barcoo asked TUI on Twitter: ‘Can you please tell me which type of aircraft my flight home from Ibiza will be on please? Very concerned about the Boeing 737 Max.’
Michael Bibby wrote: ‘TUI need to ground the death plane until Boeing provide a proper fix!’ The 737 Max is the fastest selling commercial airliner in Boeing’s history. Around 5,000 have been ordered, including 135 by Ryanair.
TUI and Norwegian are believed to be the only airlines currently using them to fly from UK airports. Although Boeing has boasted of ‘unmatched reliability’, it has been plagued by issues with the Leap1B engine and an anti-stalling system that can cause the nose to point downwards unexpectedly.
The engines, made by CFM International, are higher and further forward on the wing than earlier models, altering its balance.
Witnesses reported seeing the Ethiopian Airlines plane trying to climb before it made a sharp turn and came down. But others also reported smoke and a strange sound coming from the aircraft. This suggests there was a further – or alternative – problem.
As with the Lion Air accident, the pilot had reported difficulties to air traffic controllers after take-off and asked to turn back. The black box and cockpit voice recorder have both been recovered.
A TUI spokesman said: ‘We have no indication that we can’t operate our 737 Max in a safe way like we do with all other planes in our network.’
Norwegian’s director of flight operations Tomas Hesthammer said: ‘All of our Boeing 737 Max aircraft are operating as normal. Our passengers’ safety is and will always be our top priority.’