BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Ethiopian Airlines has grounded its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet after Sunday's deadly crash, while the accident prompted China to order the country's domestic airlines to suspend commercial operation of the Boeing model passenger planes.
All 157 people on board a Kenya-bound Ethiopian Airlines flight were killed when the aircraft crashed soon after taking off from Addis Ababa on Sunday morning.
There were 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, 9 Ethiopians, 8 Americans, 8 Chinese nationals, 8 Italians, 7 UK nationals, 4 Indians and 7 French nationals on board the ill-fated plane.
'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 on Twitter.
Africa's largest airliner tweeted that the cause of the accident is not yet known, but the company decided to ground the particular fleet as an extra safety precaution.
This was the second air disaster involving the Boeing 737-8 class of aircraft.
All 189 people on board an Indonesia Lion Air flight were killed after the plane of the same Boeing model crashed after take off from Jakarta on October 29.
Citing the two fatal accidents, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration issued a notice requesting domestic transportation airlines to suspend the commercial operation of the Boeing 737-8 aircraft on March 11.
The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that it will contact the US Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing Company to notify the shipping airlines to resume the commercial operation of the Boeing 737-8 aircraft after confirming the relevant measures to effectively ensure flight safety.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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