The still unexplained Ethiopian plane crash happened just after take-off from Addis Ababa. The disaster has spooked passengers, led to the grounding of most of Boeing’s 737 MAX fleet. U.S. President Donald Trump, an aviation enthusiast whose ties with Boeing run deep, received safety assurances personally from its chief executive Dennis Muilenburg. Boeing shares have fallen some 11 per cent since the crash, losing $26.65 billion of market value. The Ethiopian Airlines pilot whose jet crashed killing 157 people had reported flight-control problems, the company said on Wednesday, as it prepared to send the black boxes to Europe from a disaster that has rocked the global aviation industry.
Though there is no proof of links, the twin disasters have spooked passengers, led to the grounding of most of Boeing’s 737 MAX fleet and hammered shares in the world’s biggest planemaker. Since the Indonesia crash, there has been attention on an automated anti-stall system that dips the aircraft’s nose down. Ethiopia Airlines spokesman Asrat Begashaw told Reuters it was still unclear what happened on Sunday, but its pilot had reported control issues – as opposed to external factors such as birds.
“The pilot reported flight control problems and requested to turn back. In fact, he was allowed to turn back,” he said. A decision where in Europe to send the black boxes would be taken by Thursday, the airline said. Multiple nations, including the European Union, have suspended the 737 MAX, grounding about two-thirds of the 371 jets of that make in operation around the world, according to Reuters calculations.
Many airlines were managing to keep to schedule by using other jets while economic woes meant some may be grateful for a pause. The biggest impact could be on future deliveries
Passengers were worrying too, with many seeking reassurances they would not be flying on a 737 MAX. Kayak.com was the first big site to say it would modify filters to allow customers to exclude particular types of planes from queries.