Published 12 March 2019
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
The Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes and controversy, explained
A new Boeing model has crashed twice in five months. The whole world is on edge.
The second deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max model airplane within months of the first has put flyers around the world on edge. Multiple countries have grounded the planes as a result, though the United States has, thus far, refrained.
Here’s what happened: On Sunday, March 10, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, faltered and crashed soon after taking off, killing all 157 people on board. The incident was, of course, devastating. But making it even more disturbing is that it happened just months after a Lion Air flight taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, crashed in October, killing all 189 passengers.
The flights were the exact same model of planes, Boeing 737 Max.
The second crash over the weekend sent shockwaves across the world, not only because victims came from 35 countries, but also because there are multiples of the same such jets being utilized globally. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there are a total of 387 Boeing 737 Max models operating, including 74 in the United States.
The second fatal crash of a 737 Max 8 jet in under six months has raised questions about whether such planes are any longer safe to fly. Multiple countries have grounded the planes since Sunday, including Brazil, China, and India. The European Union on Tuesday suspended all flight operations of Boeing Model 737 Max 8 and 737 Max 9 in Europe.
The US, however, has been slower to act. According to NPR, three airlines fly 737 Max planes in the US: American, Southwest, and United. The FAA has come under increasing pressure to ground the jets, but thus far, it has declined. The agency has confirmed the “continued airworthiness” of the planes.
