US aviation experts arrived Tuesday at the Ethiopian Airlines crash site outside Addis Ababa, where a Boeing 737 MAX 8 went down shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 people aboard.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials join the Ethiopian-led probe into why the new jetliner plunged in clear weather six minutes into its flight to Nairobi.
The FAA said it expects Boeing will soon complete improvements to an automated anti-stall system suspected of playing a part in the deadly crash of another new MAX 8 in October, as well as update training requirements and flight crew manuals.
Boeing has said it has no reason to ground the popular plane — though a growing number of airlines around the world have taken such action.
Ethiopian Airlines decided to ground its remaining four 737 MAX 8s until further notice as “an extra safety precaution.” The carrier had been using five of the jets and awaiting delivery of 25 more.
South Korean airline Eastar Jet said it has grounded its MAX 8 fleet in response to customer concerns.
Airlines in China and Indonesia, Aeromexico, Brazil’s Gol Airlines, India’s Jet Airways and others also temporarily grounded their MAX 8s.
Australia suspended all flights into or out of the country by Boeing 737 MAX aircraft — although none of its airlines currently operate them.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the ban will affect two foreign airlines — Singapore’s SilkAir and Fiji Airways — that use them for flights to Australia.
The authority said SilkAir has already grounded its 737 MAX jets. It said Fiji Airways has two 737 MAX 8 jets in its fleet.
Gol Airlines, which suspended use of its 121 MAX 8 jets, said it is following the investigation closely and hopes to return the aircraft to use as soon as possible.
It said it has made almost 3,000 flights with the MAX 8, which went into service last June, with “total security and efficiency.”
China has 96 MAX 8 jets in service, belonging to carriers such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
The country’s civilian aviation authority, which has directed the planes to be grounded indefinitely, said the order was “taken in line with the management principle of zero tolerance for security risks.”
The authority said it will consult the FAA and Boeing before deciding when to lift its ban.
And Singapore also has banned the jets — and others in the MAX range — from flying into and out of the country. The civil aviation authority said it was “closely monitoring the situation.”
