March 12, 2019 | 19:58 (GMT+7)
Singapore bans use of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after Ethiopia crash
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on March 12 banned the use of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in its airspace following a deadly Ethiopia plane crash at weekend.
The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 went down minutes after takeoff for a flight to Nairobi on March 10, killing all 157 people on board. It was the same type of the jet operated by Lion Air which crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189 passengers and crew.
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Debris from the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 near the town of Bishoftu, Ethiopia, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters) |
The CAAS said in a statement it was "temporarily suspending operation of all variants of the Boeing 737 MAX plane into and out of Singapore in light of two fatal accidents involving this type of aircraft in less than five months."
The suspension began taking effect from 2pm of March 12, it said.
On March 11, Malaysian Minister of Economic Affairs Azmin Ali said that the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah, would reconsider the purchase of 25 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft for its flagship carrier Malaysia Airlines.
At present, Malaysia’s three largest carriers, namely MAS, AirAsia and Malindo, all do not operate any Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Source: VNA