Boeing 737 Max 8 planes suspended by Australia and Singapore after Ethiopian Airlines crash

Singapore and Australia today became the latest countries to ban Boeing 737 Max planes from their airports in response to the Ethiopian Airlines disaster.

Civil aviation authorities in both nations said they had “temporarily suspended” operations of the aircraft while its safety was reviewed.

Flight ET302 was seen “swerving and dipping” before crashing minutes after take off from Addis Ababa on Sunday morning, killing all 157 on board including nine Britons.

It was the second disaster involving the American manufacturer’s latest model in less than five months after a Lion Air jet crashed in Indonesia in October killing 189.

Singapore became the first country to bar all versions of the Boeing 737 Max, not just the Max 8 variant involved in the two disasters.

Its Civil Aviation Authority said that during the suspension it “will gather more information and review the safety risk associated with their continued operation”.

Airlines affected by the move include SilkAir, the regional arm of Singapore Airlines, which operates six Boeing 737 Max aircraft. Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said that no Australian airlines operate the Boeing 737 Max, but SilkAir and Fiji Airways fly in and out of the country using the model. Chief executive and director of aviation safety, Shane Carmody, said: “CASA regrets any inconvenience to passengers but believes it is important to always put safety first.”

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash

1/23

A total of 24 airlines so far have taken the aircraft out of service, although the US Federal Aviation Administration has told airlines it believes the model is airworthy. India’s Jet Airways says it has grounded its five Max 8s, while Brazil’s Gol Airlines is suspending the use of its 121 planes.

Ethiopian police officers walk past the debris of the doomed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing jet on Tuesday
Baz Ratner/Reuters

The 737 Max is the newest version of the 737, the best-selling airliner ever, and Boeing has delivered more than 350 of them since launch in 2017 with more than 5,000 on order.

The latest suspensions came as family and friends paid tribute to aid worker Sam Pegram, who was the sixth of nine British victims to be named following the crash. Mr Pegram, 25, from Preston, Lancashire, had started a job as an aid worker with the Norwegian Refugee Council in January at the organisation’s offices in Geneva. Last night his mother spoke of her shock. She said: “Sam was so looking forward to going to Nairobi. He loved the work he was doing. We can’t believe this has happened. We’re totally devastated.”

Meanwhile, friends around the world paid tribute to Mr Pegram, who had previously worked in Jordan and had travelled across South-East Asia.

His former school, Penwortham Priory, confirmed his death last night. A statement said: “Unfortunately, and with great sadness, we have been informed that Sam Pegram, a former pupil of Priory, was one of the Ethiopian airline passengers. Staff who taught Sam will remember him with great fondness and our deepest condolences go to Sam’s family at this difficult time.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in