US Congress wants to know why the FAA waited so long to ground Boeing 737 jets

Congress plans to scrutinize why the US waited so many days to ground all Boeing 737 MAX jets involved in Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia as other countries and airlines acted more quickly. The FAA said the order Wednesday was the result of “new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today” and “newly refined satellite data” that Canada had cited earlier in its decision to halt flights. The FAA did not disclose the new evidence at the scene but said it was “the missing pieces” that aligned the track of the two fatal Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes since October. For decades, the US has led the world in aviation safety, often setting standards that were later adopted by other countries. The agency came under heavy criticism from US lawmakers and others who questioned why the FAA waited so long to ground the Boeing 737 MAX. FAA officials plan to brief lawmakers Thursday, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. While President Donald Trump announced the ban on television, acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell said he made the decision with the support of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. “We were resolute in our position that we would not take action until we had data to support taking action,” Elwell told reporters. “That data coalesced today and we made the call.”<br/>