As the latest version of Boeing Co’s best-selling 737 family- a global industry workhorse -has again been thrust into the spotlight after a fatal crash in Ethiopia, months after a deadly crash involving an identical brand-new jet in Indonesia, China’s aviation regulator has ordered Chinese airlines to suspend their Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft operations […]
As the latest version of Boeing Co’s best-selling 737 family- a global industry workhorse -has again been thrust into the spotlight after a fatal crash in Ethiopia, months after a deadly crash involving an identical brand-new jet in Indonesia,
China’s aviation regulator has ordered Chinese airlines to suspend their Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft operations following a deadly crash of the 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines.
The jet bound for Nairobi crashed yesterday, minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people on board,including one Ugandan.
It was the second crash of the 737 MAX, the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrow body jet that first entered service in 2017.
In October, a 737 MAX flown by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air flying from Jakarta on a domestic flight crashed 13 minutes after take-off, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board.
There are still unanswered questions about the causes of the Lion Air crash, and officials and safety experts said it was too soon to draw links with the Ethiopian incident.
Boeing did not respond to questions about the 737 MAX 8 on Sunday but said in a statement it would send a technical team to the crash site to provide assistance.
However, The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement it would notify airlines as to when they could resume flying the jets after contacting Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to ensure flight safety.
Chinese airlines have 96 737 MAX jets in service, the state company regulator said on Weibo.
Meanwhile, The United Nations has confirmed that it lost 19 of its staff in the ill-fated jet. A statement from UN said World Food Programme (WFP) lost seven staff, Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) lost two each whereas 6 staff from the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON) also died. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (Fao), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Sudan, World Bank and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) each lost one staff member.
In general, People from 35 nationalities lost their lives, with Kenyans being the majority at 32. The flight also had eigtheen Canadians, nine Ethiopians and eight Americans.
| No | Nationality | No of Passengers |
| 1 | Austrian | 3 |
| 2 | Belgium | 1 |
| 3 | Canadian | 18 |
| 4 | China | 8 |
| 5 | Netherland | 5 |
| 6 | Djibouti | 1 |
| 7 | Egypt | 6 |
| 8 | Spain | 2 |
| 9 | Ethiopian | 9 |
| 10 | France | 7 |
| 11 | UK | 7 |
| 12 | Indonesian | 1 |
| 13 | Israel | 2 |
| 14 | India | 4 |
| 15 | Ireland | 1 |
| 16 | Italian | 8 |
| 17 | Kenyan | 32 |
| 18 | Morocco | 2 |
| 19 | Mozambique | 1 |
| 20 | Norway | 1 |
| 21 | Poland | 2 |
| 22 | Russia | 3 |
| 23 | Rwanda | 1 |
| 24 | Saudi | 1 |
| 25 | Sudan | 1 |
| 26 | Somalia | 1 |
| 27 | Serbia | 1 |
| 28 | Slovakia | 4 |
| 29 | Sweden | 3 |
| 30 | Togo | 1 |
| 31 | Uganda | 1 |
| 32 | USA | 8 |
| 33 | Yemeni | 1 |
| 34 | Nepal | 1 |
| 35 | Nigeria | 1 |
| 36 | Unknown | 2 |
| Total | 151 |
