Malaysia Joins Over 40 Other Nations In Suspending All Boeing 737 MAX Planes
However, US aviation regulators have stated that there is "no basis" to suspend flights of the aircraft as of now.
By Katrina Khairul Azman — 13 Mar 2019, 03:06 PM
Malaysia has joined the growing list of countries banning Boeing's 737 MAX planes in light of two fatal accidents involving the aircraft in less than five months
"For Malaysia, we clarify that none of the Malaysian carriers operate the Boeing 737 MAX 8," said Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) CEO Ahmad Nizar Zolkafar in a statement on 12 March, News Straits Times reported.
"The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia with immediate effect is suspending the operations of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft flying to or from Malaysia and transiting in Malaysia until further notice," he added.
Regulators and airlines in over 45 countries have grounded or barred flights by Boeing's 737 Max as confidence in the popular plane has started to plummet
On 12 March, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) also temporarily suspended the operations of all variants of the Boeing 737 MAX flying into and out of the republic.
The airlines to be affect by Singapore's decision are SilkAir, China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Shandong Airlines and Thai Lion Air.
The European Union is suspending all flight operations of 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX, as well as all commercial flights performed by third-country operators into, within or out of the EU, South China Morning Post reported.
India's Ministry of Civil Aviation said that, "These planes will be grounded until appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations."
Indian carrier SpiceJet has 13 jets of the model 8 variant in its 76-strong fleet.
However, US aviation regulators have stated that there is "no basis" as of now to suspend flights of the Boeing's best-selling aircraft
"Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft," said Federal Aviation Administration chief Daniel Elwell in a statement.
"Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action," he added.
Boeing has delivered more than 370 units of the 737 MAX airplanes to 47 customers globally to date.
Since its certification and entry into service, hundreds of thousands of flights have been carried out safely.
According to Boeing's CEO Dennis Muilenburg, the tragic Ethiopian Airlines plane crash has affected the entire aerospace industry
"Our teams are fully supporting our customer and the investigation and providing technical assistance at the request and under the direction of the US National Transportation Safety Board and Ethiopian authorities," he said in a message to employees on 11 March, according to New Straits Times.
"We are confident in the safety of the 737 MAX and in the work of the men and women who designed and built it," said Muilenburg.
China was the first suspend the Boeing 737 Max aircrafts one day after the fatal plane crash in Ethiopia: