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Explainer
Boeing ordered to make 737 MAX-8 design changes
US federal aviation authorities have said they will order Boeing to modify its 737 MAX 8 aircraft, including anti-stalling software and manoeuvering system updates.
Published 11 March 2019 12:40pm
Updated 12 March 2019 1:16pm
By Charlotte Lam, Maani Truu
Image: Members of the ground crew check out a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliner. (Getty Images North America)
As the for the victims of the , a number of airlines have grounded their Boeing 737 MAX-8 jets and US authorities are ordering Boeing to modify the aircraft's design.
On Sunday, the Ethiopian Airline aircraft carrying 157 passengers and crew went down six minutes after its early morning take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all on board.
It is the second time in six months that the aircraft model has been involved in a horrific crash shortly after takeoff.
Ground crew check out a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliner. Source: Getty Images
In October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 with 189 people on board crashed into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia just 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all on board.
Which countries have grounded aircraft so far?
China has ordered domestic airlines to suspend commercial operation of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, citing the Ethiopian Airlines crash and another deadly accident of that same model in Indonesia.
Noting the "similarities" between the two accidents, China's Civil Aviation Administration said domestic airlines had until 6pm local time to ground all 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
South Korea's transport ministry also announced that two of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets operated by budget airline Eastar Jet would be grounded pending an investigation, while the Mongolian Civil Aviation Authority announced it had ordered state-carrier Mongolia Airlines to ground it's single Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Wreckage lies at the crash site of Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 en route to Nairobi, Kenya, near Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Source: AAP
Ethiopian Airlines, Cayman Airways and South African airline Comair also announced they were suspending the use of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 until further notice, on the recommendation of aeronautical authorities.
"Following the tragic accident of ET 302 ... Ethiopian Airlines has decided to ground all B-737 8 MAX fleet effective yesterday, March 10, until further notice," the state-owned carrier said in a statement released on Twitter.
Ethiopian Airlines has a fleet of four 737 MAX 8 jets, not counting the one that crashed on Sunday, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
Indonesia said it was grounding 11 of the jets - 10 of which are operated by Lion Air and one flown by national carrier Garuda.
Operation of the model will only resume after "confirming the relevant measures to effectively ensure flight safety", the administration said in a statement.
Do Australian airlines fly Boeing 737 MAX 8s?
But an Australian airline operations expert told SBS News that the model was still safe to fly, despite the similarities between the two crashes raising questions.
"With the investigations still ongoing with the Indonesian event, I'm not sure if there's any concern for the aircraft type yet until the evidence suggests there is something going on," from Swinburne University in Melbourne said.
"I think it will come down to seeing what evidence is consistent before any moves are made, to do anything against the fleet of MAX 8s, Dr Bruce said.
Source: AAP
"There are quite a few MAX 8s in service around the world already and certainly Australia is getting some towards the end of the year."
Virgin Australia has confirmed it has ordered 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes - the first batch of which are due to arrive before the year's end.
A carrier spokesman told SBS News it was too early to comment on whether the Ethiopian crash would impact the order.
The airlines still flying the Boeing 737 Max 8
Elsewhere, airlines have said they will continue flying the aircraft pending an investigation, while others continued to operate without commenting.
Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft will continue to fly as normal in Fiji, Russia, the US, Canada, Turkey, Italy, Norway, Brazil, Iceland, Singapore and Dubai.
Icelandair's operations chief Jens Thordarson said it would be "premature" to link the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia together.
Fiji Airways, which includes the Boeing 737 MAX 8 in their fleet, told SBS News they had "full confidence in the airworthiness of our fleet".
"Fiji Airways followed a comprehensive induction process for our new Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft," a spokesperson said.
"We continue to ensure that our maintenance and training programme for pilots and engineers meets the highest safety standards."
Canada's transport minister echoed this sentiment, announcing he wouldn't ground dozens of the aircraft unless given reason to do so.
"I think it would be premature [to ground them]," Transport Minister Marc Garneau said, noting that the aircraft model has flow "millions of hours," Marc Garneau said.
Air Canada, Westjet and Sunwing operate 41 of the jetliners in this country.
Singaporean airline Silk Air, which services Australian locations including Cairns, Darwin and Kathmandu, will also continue to operate it's six 737 Max 8.
Meanwhile, Oman Air said it was in contact with Boeing "to understand if there are any implications for other airlines operating the same model".
What's next?
Aviation experts expect the investigation process to be much quicker compared to last year's Lion Air tragedy, in which investigators initially struggled to recover the black box because the jet had crashed off the coast of Indonesia.
Dr Bruce understands the growing concerns around the safety of this fleet and in the industry as a whole but urged Australians to keep things in perspective.
"The incidents and accidents that do happen strike the headlines, rightly so, but they're actually very few and far between considering the thousands and thousands of flights each day," he said.
"There aren't that many aviation accidents that happen, they're horrible when they do, but there aren't that many. If you look at car crashes, if they hit the headlines every day, you don't get anything else in the paper."
Investigative journalist and former UK Royal Air Force pilot Mikey Kay is interested to know what training the Ethiopian Airlines crew received on the updated guidance for the 737 MAX-8, issued by the US-based Federal Aviation Administration, in the aftermath of the Lion Air crash.
"I would be looking into a couple of key areas," he told said.
"That radio call (by the pilot) would have been preceded by a Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, or a Pan, Pan, Pan.
"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday being the very serious one which could indicate a severe catastrophic failure ... I'd be interested to know whether it was a Mayday or a Pan because that would give us an indication of how severe the pilots interpreted the problem that they were having."
US federal aviation authorities said on Monday that they will order Boeing to modify its 737 MAX 8 aircraft, including anti-stalling software and manoeuvering system updates.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it "anticipates mandating these design changes ... no later than April."
The full list
Airlines that have grounded the Boeing 737 MAX 8
Chinese airlines:
- Shenzhen Airlines
- China Eastern Airlines
- Air China
- Okay Airways
- Kunming Airlines
Indonesian airlines:
- Garuda Indonesia
- Lion Air
Other:
- Ethiopian Airlines
- Cayman Airways
- Comair
- Mongolia Airlines
- Eastar Jets
