March 15, 2019, 05:54 / Business

Boeing suspends deliveries of 737 MAX

Boeing has suspended deliveries of its best-selling 737 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft following a plane crash in Ethiopia, Reuters reports , citing a statement from the manufacturer. Boeing will continue to produce planes, but their flights will resume after a software update, US lawmakers said yesterday.

Boeing said it will improve the software "across the 737 MAX fleet" in the coming weeks. Its update will take several weeks, and installation on all aircraft will last at least until April, said Rick Larsen, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, following a briefing with representatives of the US aviation service. The agency previously reported that analysts estimate that each month of the Boeing 737 MAX ban could cost the company between $1.8 billion and $2.5 billion.

Today, experts in France will begin a technical analysis of the black boxes from the Ethiopian Airlines airliner that crashed on March 10, carrying 157 people. Previously, the US Federal Aviation Administration, citing satellite data and evidence from the scene, pointed out some similarities and admitted a common cause of the disaster in Ethiopia and the crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 of the Indonesian airline Lion Air in October 2018. Then 189 people died.