The European Union aviation agency on Tuesday suspended the use of the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane from the continent following Sunday’s tragic airplane crash in Ethiopia.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) move comes on the back of similar suspensions by countries such as China, Ethiopia, U.K., Singapore, Australia and Indonesia.
EASA’s suspension means no airline will be allowed to fly the Boeing 737 Max 8 into or out of Europe.
“As a precautionary measure, EASA has published today an Airworthiness Directive, effective as of 19:00 UTC, suspending all flight operations of all Boeing Model 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX aeroplanes in Europe. In addition EASA has published a Safety Directive, effective as of 19:00 UTC, suspending all commercial flights performed by third-country operators into, within or out of the EU of the above mentioned models,” a statement from the agency read in part.
The Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on Sunday killed all 157 people on board, and marked the second time that a Boeing 737 Max-8 plane has gone down in five months, the first being off the coast of Indonesia, last October.
As investigations into the cause of the crash continue, the plane’s Black Box was retrieved on Monday. The box is expected to help investigators in the probe.
Ethiopian Airlines on Monday announced that the identification of bodies would begin in the next few days, and that families of those who were on board the plane would start receiving the bodies within five days.
