US grounds Boeing 737 MAX flights

US President Donald Trump announced an immediate grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 aircraft, Associated Press reports.

He explained this by “new information” about the crash of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Ethiopia, without giving details.

Earlier, the US Federal Aviation Administration refused to ground Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, saying that no systemic problems had been identified in their operation.

Updated : The decision to ground the Boeing 737 MAX was made in light of new information about the configuration and flight path of the plane that crashed in Ethiopia. The information indicates similarities between the crash and the Indonesian plane, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said .

• In the United States, Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are used by three airlines: United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
• Many countries, including Canada, China and EU member states, have grounded the Boeing 737 MAX 8 following the crash in Ethiopia. The cause is still unknown, but it was the second crash involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in six months. The first crash occurred in Indonesia in October 2018, killing 189 people.
• Following the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Indonesia, The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing failed to tell airlines and pilots about the ability of new 737 MAX models to stall under certain circumstances.