One of the largest global aircraft manufacturer Boeing has recommended a temporary suspension of its entire world fleet of the 737 MAX aircraft. 

The move comes after several countries, including India, China, European Union and the United States banned the use of the aircraft in wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board. Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s President, CEO and chairman in a statement said that the company was doing everything to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators and help ensure this does not happen again. 

Sunday’s Ethiopia Airlines crash was the second accident involving the US-based aerospace giant’s MAX 8 model within six months. Last October, a Lion Air-operated MAX 8 went down in Indonesia in October, killing 189 people. Both crashes took place shortly after takeoff and have prompted intense scrutiny over the plane’s control systems.

There were 371 of the 737 MAX family jets in operation before this week’s groundings.

Boeing has grounded an entire fleet of planes before. In 2013, Boeing told airlines not to fly their 787 Dreamliners because the planes’ batteries were catching fire.

The Hindu