Boeing crash drives wedge between EU and US aviation authorities

The Ethiopian Airlines crash has driven a wedge between European and US aviation authorities, leading to the “dangerous” fragmentation of the international aviation safety system, according to a senior EU official. The FAA’s reluctance to ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 meant that the “golden era” when the US authority was “the beacon” for aviation security had ended, the official added. Its response had led to a splintering in the global system, the official said, as national authorities separately raced to ground the Max 8 instead of taking a unified global approach. “The system was based on trust and the trust has gone,” said the official, who declined to speak on the record. US officials have grown alarmed at some of the stronger statements made by other govts and regulators. <br/>