U.S. joins the world in grounding 737 Max jets
Trump issues order; FAA cites info showing similarities in 2 crashes
WASHINGTON — The FAA developed new information from the wreckage of a 737 crash in Ethiopia that painted similarities to an earlier crash in Indonesial
That led the agency to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft in the U.S., three people familiar with the matter said.
Earlier, President Donald Trump had grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.
The wording in the emergency order was similar to that used by Canadian officials who hours earlier had grounded the planes.
“Any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and thereafter be grounded until further notice,” Trump said. “The safety of the American people, and all people, is our paramount concern.”
The order states the similarities “warrant further investigation of the possibility of a shared cause for the two incidents that needs to be better understood and addressed.”
Trump’s announcement followed one by Canada’s transportation minister grounding all the jets. There was no timeline for the grounding.
Shortly after 3 p.m., the FAA issued a statement confirming Trump’s order.
“The FAA is ordering the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory,” the statement said. “The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today. This evidence, together with newly refined satellite data avail-
able to FAA this morning, led to this decision.”
The order temporarily halts all flights of the Boeing Max 8 and Max 9 planes, effective immediately.
The FAA simply said the planes would not fly “pending further investigation” when announcing the U.S. would join other countries and airlines in banning the aircraft.
The action came in the wake of the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 that killed 157 people on Sunday and a Lion Air Max 8 crash in Indonesia that killed 189 people in late October.
“On March 13, 2019, the investigation of the (Ethiopian Airlines) crash developed new information from the wreckage concerning the aircraft’s configuration just after takeoff that, taken together with newly refined data from satellite-based tracking of the aircraft’s flight path, indicates some similarities” between the Ethiopia and Indonesia crashes, according to the order.
The order will ground more than 70 aircraft and covers 737 Max 8s and Max 9s. The aircraft are used by American and Southwest airlines. United Airlines has 14 of the Max 9 planes.
Southwest’s 34 planes are less than 5 percent of its more than 750-plane fleet. Yet its use on longer flights means the aircraft account for about 6 percent of the airline’s capacity, defined by the industry standard of available seat miles — the number of seats on an airplane multiplied by the number of miles flown, said Joe DeNardi, managing director of financial services firm Stifel.
He said Southwest, a major carrier at San Antonio International Airport, will try to offset the groundings by using other planes in its fleet and any spare aircraft the company might have. Ultimately, he said, Southwest might have to decrease the frequency of some of its flights.
Boeing said it continues to have full confidence in the safety of both the Max 8 and Max 9, but after consulting with the FAA, the NTSB, aviation authorities and its customers, it decided to suspend operations of its entire global fleet of 371 Max aircraft.
“Boeing has determined — out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety — to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 737 MAX aircraft,” the company said, adding that it supported the FAA’s decision.
Officials at American Airlines, which earlier in the day had reiterated its belief that the planes were safe to fly, said the aircraft were being grounded out of “an abundance of caution.”
“Earlier today, the Federal Aviation Administration informed us that based on new information, they are grounding the United States Boeing 737 MAX fleet out of an abundance of caution,” the airline said.
Southwest said it “is immediately complying” with the FAA order.
“We have been in constant contact with the FAA and Boeing since Ethiopian Airlines’ accident last Sunday,” the airline said. “While we remain confident in the MAX 8 after completing more than 88,000 flight hours accrued over 41,000 flights, we support the actions of the FAA and other regulatory agencies and governments across the globe that have asked for further review of the data — including information from the flight data recorder — related to the recent accident involving the MAX 8.”
Southwest board Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said: “During our 48-year history, Southwest has continuously demonstrated our commitment to safety. We sincerely appreciate the trust our customers and employees place in our airline every day, and the Southwest team is working diligently to minimize disruptions to our customers’ travel plans.”
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he issued the “safety notice” after newly available data were reviewed Wednesday morning.
Garneau said the safety notice halts Boeing 737 Max aircraft from arriving, departing or using Canadian airspace, effective immediately. The notice also covers the Max 9.
Garneau said the new information reviewed was satellite-tracking data that are collected when an aircraft takes off. He said the data provide an indication of the plane’s course and its vertical profile.
“My experts have looked at this and compared it to the flight that occurred with Lion Air six months ago in October, and … there are similarities that sort of exceed a certain threshold in our minds with respect to the possible cause of what happened in Ethiopia,” he said.
At a Wednesday news conference, Elwell of the FAA said delays in getting the damaged flight data recorders to a place where information could be retrieved contributed to the agency’s decision to ground the planes now.
Ethiopia has the capability to read black boxes, he said, but not heavily damaged ones as in this case.
The plan is to have them on a plane to France, he said.
Elwell said that, per international protocol, Ethiopia is taking the lead: “their soil, their aircraft, their airline,” he said.
But he said that U.S. inspectors have been cooperating with their Ethiopian counterparts from the onset of the tragedy and that they will continue to do so.
“Together, FAA and (the National Transportation Safety Board) are helping Ethiopian accident investigation board,” he said.
In a preliminary report of the Oct. 29 Lion Air crash, a device known as an “angle of attack” sensor mistakenly indicated the plane’s nose was too high, prompting the plane’s automation software to push the plane downward.
The Lion Air pilots fought to raise the plane’s nose but were unable to stop the plane from crashing into the Java Sea.
In November, an American Airlines spokesman said the airline followed all procedures outlined by Boeing and in a separate emergency directive from the FAA in the wake of the Lion Air crash.
American Airlines said Wednesday it has reviewed data for more than 14,000 flights since the Lion Air Flight 610 crash and has not seen a single anomaly related to the sensor.
Spokesman Ross Feinstein said the airline had complied with an FAA airworthiness directive after the Indonesian crash, and he said the directive “reiterated existing, well-established procedures for Max 8 pilots.”
American’s fleet of 24 Max 8 aircraft began operation in November 2017 and have a combined total of more than 46,400 operating hours.
Officials around the world have cited the continued absence of clear information from the Ethiopian Air plane to call for Boeing 737 Max 8 jets to be grounded.
After China grounded the planes Monday, most countries followed suit, including much of Europe. The latest bans were issued by India, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Hong Kong.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told CNN on Tuesday that the pilot reported “flight control problems” and asked to return to the airport.
While Tewolde said the cause of the crash was not yet clear, he cast doubt on the airworthiness of the 737 Max.
“Two major fatal accidents on the same airplane model, brand new airplane model, in six months — so there are a lot of questions to be answered on the airplane,” he said.
In remarks to local media, Tewolde also revealed that pilots received additional training from Boeing to fly the 737 Max after the Indonesia.