China orders its airlines to suspend use of Boeing 737 Max aircraft

China’s aviation regulator said on Monday it had ordered Chinese airlines to suspend their Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft operations by 6 p.m. (5.00 a.m. ET) following a deadly crash of a 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines. An Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 bound for Nairobi crashed minutes after take-off on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. It was the second crash of the 737 MAX, the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrowbody jet that first entered service in 2017. In October, a 737 MAX flown by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air flying from Jakarta on a domestic flight crashed 13 minutes after take-off, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said it would notify airlines as to when they could resume flying the jets after contacting Boeing and the US FAA to ensure flight safety. “Given that two accidents both involved newly delivered Boeing 737-8 planes and happened during take-off phase, they have some degree of similarity,” the CAAC said, adding that the order was in line with its principle of zero-tolerance on safety hazards. Chinese airlines have 96 737 MAX jets in service, the state company regulator said on Weibo. A Boeing spokesman declined to comment. FlightRadar24 said there were no Boeing 737 Max 8 planes flying over China as of 0043 GMT on Monday. Most of Air China Ltd’s 737 MAX fleet of 15 jets landed on Sunday evening, with the exception of two that landed on Monday morning from international destinations, according to data on FlightRadar24. It did not list any upcoming scheduled flights for the planes, nor did China Southern, which also has its fleet on the ground. Cayman Airways has grounded both of its new 737 MAX 8 jets until more information was received, the Cayman Islands airline said. Fiji Airways said it had followed a comprehensive induction process for its new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and it had full confidence in the airworthiness of its fleet.<br/>