WASHINGTON: US regulators on Monday ordered Boeing to make urgent improvements to the best-selling jet involved in a deadly Ethiopia plane crash — but ruled out grounding the fleet as investigators worked to piece together the aircraft’s final moments.
The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed minutes into a flight to Nairobi on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board and prompting airlines across the world to begin withdrawing the model from schedules.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was working with local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board and may soon share safety information concerning the aircraft.
“If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action,” it said in a statement.
The FAA said it was ordering Boeing to make improvements to anti-stalling software and the maneuvering system, giving the company until the end of April to make the updates.
Investigators have recovered the black box flight recorders from the airliner, which went down near Addis Ababa, just six minutes after takeoff, as the pilot alerted controllers of “difficulties.”
There were passengers and crew from 35 countries on board, including some two dozen UN staff. Ethiopia decreed Monday a day of national mourning.
The aircraft was the same type of jet as the Indonesian Lion Air plane that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew.
Not since the 1970s — when the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 had successive fatal incidents — has a new model been involved in two deadly accidents in such a short period.
The FAA acknowledged that the crashes were being linked in media reports but said the investigation had “just begun” and so far no data had been provided to “draw any conclusions or take any actions.”
Airlines in Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico and other countries said they were suspending operations of their 737 MAX 8 fleets. Pilots from Argentina’s Aerolinas Argentinas have refused to fly the aircraft.
The move caused Boeing shares to tumble around 12 percent earlier in the day, before recovering about half its losses by the close of the trading day.
The company said it was sending a technical team to the crash site and will work with Ethiopian and US regulators to determine the cause.
“The investigation is in its early stages, but at this point, based on the information available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators,” Boeing said.
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