Boeing has grounded its entire global fleet of 737 Max aircraft after investigators uncovered new evidence at the scene of the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The US plane-maker said it would suspend all 371 of the aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration said fresh evidence as well as newly refined satellite data prompted the decision to temporarily ban the jets.
The FAA had previously held out while many countries banned the aircraft.
The crash on Sunday in Addis Ababa killed 157 people.
It was the second fatal Max 8 disaster in five months after one crashed over Indonesia in October, claiming 189 lives.
Boeing said it "continues to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max".
However, it said that after consultation with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board - which is conducting an investigation into the Ethiopian Airlines crash - it had decided to ground the flights "out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft's safety".
The FAA said: "The grounding will remain in effect pending further investigation, including examination of information from the aircraft's flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders."
American Airlines said 24 of its aircraft would be affected by the suspension, adding: "Our teams will be working to rebook customers as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience."
United Airlines said that its Max aircraft account for roughly 40 flights a day.
It said: "Through a combination of spare aircraft and rebooking customers, we do not anticipate a significant operational impact as a result of this order."
Earlier on Wednesday, Canada grounded the planes after its transport minister Marc Garneau said he had received new evidence about the crash.
He said that satellite data showed possible similarities between flight patterns of Boeing 737 Max planes operating in Canada and the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed.
He said: "As a result of new data that we received this morning, and had the chance to analyze, and on the advice of my experts and as a precautionary measure, I issued a safety notice."
President Donald Trump initially announced that the FAA would be making an emergency order following "new information and physical evidence that we've received from the site and from other locations and through a couple of other complaints".
It has emerged that pilots in the US had complained late last year about problems controlling the Boeing 737 Max 8 during take-off.
They reported difficulties similar to those that contributed to the fatal Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October.
The Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed just six minutes into its flight.
Flightradar24, an air traffic monitor, said the plane's "vertical speed was unstable after take-off".
Documents reveal that pilots flying last November reported engaging autopilot only for the aircraft's nose to pitch lower, prompting the warning system to exclaim: "Don't sink! Don't sink!"
Two US pilots reported separate incidents involving the 737 Max's automatic anti-stalling system in November.
The feature, which was new to the 737 Max family, is designed to keep the plane from stalling.
The system prevents the aircraft from pointing upwards at too high an angle, where it could lose its lift.
However, according to filings with the US Aviation Safety Reporting System, which pilots use to disclose information anonymously, it appeared to force the nose down.
In both cases, pilots were forced to intervene to stop the plane from descending.
After the Lion Air crash, Boeing issued a bulletin on what to do regarding erroneous readings from the sensor, which sends out information about what angle a plane is flying at.
But another pilot said that "it did nothing" to address the problems with the sensor.
They added: "I am left to wonder: what else don't I know? The flight manual is inadequate and almost criminally insufficient."
I think it's a reaction to the concerns of Nigerians. The NCAA had previously stated that no Boeing 737 Max 8 was registered to fly in Nigeria, but that didn't seem to satisfy Nigerians. In fact, on the thread that I created yesterday, someone claimed that Italian Airways was flying a 737 Max 8 into Nigeria last night.
It's necessary for the government to assuage the fears of Nigerians.
Several Boeing 737 Max 8 pilots in U.S. complained about suspected safety flaw
Pilots repeatedly voiced safety concerns about the Boeing 737 Max 8 to federal authorities, with one captain calling the flight manual "inadequate and almost criminally insufficient" several months before Sunday's Ethiopian Air crash that killed 157 people, an investigation by The Dallas Morning News found.
The News found five complaints about the Boeing model in a federal database where pilots can voluntarily report about aviation incidents without fear of repercussions.
The complaints are about the safety mechanism cited in preliminary reports about an October Boeing 737 Max 8 crash in Indonesia that killed 189.
The disclosures found by The News reference problems with an autopilot system, and they all occurred during the ascent after takeoff. Many mentioned the plane suddenly nosing down. While records show these flights occurred in October and November, the airlines the pilots were flying for is redacted from the database.
Records show that a captain who flies the Max 8 complained in November that it was "unconscionable" that the company and federal authorities allowed pilots to fly the planes without adequate training or fully disclosing information about how its systems were different from those on previous 737 models.
The captain's complaint was logged after the FAA released an emergency airworthiness directive about the Boeing 737 Max 8 in response to the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia.
An FAA spokesman said the reports found by The News were filed directly to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which serves as a neutral third party for reporting purposes.
Tuesday evening, the FAA issued a statement from acting Administrator Daniel K. Elwell saying that the agency "continues to review extensively all available data and aggregate safety performance from operators and pilots of the Boeing 737 MAX."
"Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft. Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action," the statement said.
A federal audit in 2014 said that the FAA does not collect and analyze its voluntary disclosure reporting in a way that would effectively identify national safety risks.
U.S. regulators are mandating that Boeing upgrade the plane's software by April but have so far declined to ground the planes. China, Australia and the European Union have grounded the 737 Max 8, leaving the U.S. and Canada as the only two countries flying a substantial number of the aircraft.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who leads a Senate subcommittee overseeing aviation, said in a statement Tuesday that U.S. authorities should ground the planes.
"Further investigation may reveal that mechanical issues were not the cause, but until that time, our first priority must be the safety of the flying public," the Republican said.
At least 18 carriers — including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, the two largest U.S. carriers flying the 737 Max 8 — have also declined to ground planes, saying they are confident in the safety and "airworthiness" of their fleets. American has 24 of the planes, and Southwest has 34.
"The United States should be leading the world in aviation safety," said John Samuelsen, president of a union representing transport workers that called Tuesday for the planes to be grounded. "And yet, because of the lust for profit in the American aviation, we're still flying planes that dozens of other countries and airlines have now said need to be grounded."
The complaint from the captain who called into question the 737 Max 8's flight manual ended: "The fact that this airplane requires such jury rigging to fly is a red flag. Now we know the systems employed are error-prone — even if the pilots aren't sure what those systems are, what redundancies are in place and failure modes. I am left to wonder: what else don't I know?"
The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, was included on the Max 8 model as a safety mechanism that would automatically correct for a plane entering a stall pattern. If the plane loses lift under its wings during takeoff and the nose begins to point far upward, the system kicks in and automatically pushes the nose down.
After the Lion Air crash, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive that said: "This condition, if not addressed, could cause the flight crew to have difficulty controlling the airplane, and lead to excessive nose-down attitude, significant altitude loss, and possible impact with terrain."
Officials have not yet determined what caused Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 to nose-dive into the ground Sunday, but many experts have noted similarities between this week's crash and the one in Indonesia.
A spokesperson for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines told The News that it hasn't received any reports of issues with MCAS from its pilots, "nor do any of our thousands of data points from the aircraft indicate any issues with MCAS."
American Airlines emailed a statement to The News Tuesday night saying that it believes the Max 8 planes are safe, that its pilots are well-trained to fly them, and that the Fort Worth-based company has not "had similar issues regarding an erroneous angle of attack during manual flight."
The FAA issued a statement to The News on Tuesday saying it was "collecting data and keeping in contact with international civil aviation authorities as information becomes available."
"The FAA continuously assesses and oversees the safety performance of U.S. commercial aircraft," the statement said. "If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action."
Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said in a news release Monday night: "We fully support Southwest Airlines' decision to continue flying the MAX and the FAA's findings to date."
Boeing, which posted a record $101 billion in revenue last year, issued a new statement Tuesday saying that no grounding of planes was necessary. "Based on the information currently available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators," the company said.
Samuelsen, of the transport workers union, said it's "unconscionable" that the FAA has not yet grounded the planes in the U.S., given the number of deaths that have occurred.
"This pressure should not be on these pilots to overcome an engineering flaw that Boeing themselves acknowledges," he said.
How can I check whether my flight is on a 737 Max? If you already have a ticket, you should be able to tell from the booking details. If you are making a booking online, many sites indicate the model. If not, websites such as http://flightstats.com allow you to dig into details of flights at least a few days in advance, including the make and type.
The Federal Executive Council has banned Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from operating in Nigeria. This was announced by the minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika after today's meeting.
The FEC has also taken steps to improve safety in Nigeria's airspace.
nymphomaniac: What a huge loss boeing will incur with the ban of these planes in most countries of the world. Nigeria will not follow suit and ban the plane oh. Years from now, one airliner will go and buy it and start using it to fly people from Benin to owerri.
No amount of money can equal the worth of a human life. New aircraft worth millions killing people like it's cows for suya
AngelicBeing: Great decisions from responsible and caring government, when will Nigeria government banned the kulikuli airplane
Oshoala scored her 4th goal for Barca yesterday night.
FC Barcelona Women 4–1 Real Sociedad: Stylish victory
Barça dominated against the Basques and clearly won the first game of six that they'll play in just 19 days
www.fcbarcelona.com 08:24PM TUESDAY 12 MAR FOOTBALL
Luís Cortés' side earned a fabulous 4-1 win over Real Sociedad thanks to goals from Oshoala, Aitana, Marta Torrejón and Andressa Alves. The match represented the first of six in 19 days for the Blaugranes (four in the League and two in the Champions League).
Fast start
The game began frantically, with several chances for the hosts before Asisat Oshoala opened the scoring (1-0, minute 18). Despite Barça's dominance, the Basques managed to equalise through Nahikari just nine minutes later (1-1, minute 27). However, on 33 minutes, Aitana Bonmatí put Barça back in the lead thanks to a great cross from Lieke Martens, and then Marta Torrejón quickly added another.
Total Dominance
Into the second half, and Barça continued to dominate proceedings. The only surprise was that it took them until the 76th minute to make it 4-1, Andressa Alves rounding off the scoring. Now comes a visit to Atlético Madrid and a home game against LSK Kvinner, both key duels in the League and the Champions League.
Match Details
FC Barcelona Women, 4 Real Sociedad, 1
Goals: 1-0, Oshoala (min. 18); 1-1, Nahikari (min. 27); 2-1, Aitana (min. 33); Marta Torrejón (3-1, min. 35) and 4-1, Andressa (min. 76).
naptu2: This is a very serious matter, so I shouldn't laugh, but on the other hand, some of the comments are very funny.
Two Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft have crashed since October. Investigation into the first crash shows that there was a software issue.
Boeing changed the way it mounts the engines on the aircraft and this affected the centre of gravity of the plane. This means that the nose (the front part) of the plane could sometimes suddenly tip upwards, which could stall the plane.
Boeing installed a software program on the plane to counteract this problem. The program lowers the nose whenever there is a danger that it would tip upwards.
Unfortunately there was a problem with the sensors and this made the program believe that the nose was about to tip upwards, so it lowered the nose. This is believed to possibly be one of the reasons for the Lion Air crash (investigation is still ongoing).
It's also reported that two US pilots have reported similar problems on separate occasions.
Many countries have grounded the 737 Max 8, but the FAA, which regulates aviation in the US, refuses to ground it. The FAA released a statement 6 hours ago in which it insisted that there was no reason to ground the plane.
You need to see the reactions of Americans to that tweet. Some of the comments are funny.
One guy said that the board of the FAA must use the 737 Max 8 for all their future flights and they must not fly anywhere near his house.
majamajic: on Boeing , they are not among airlines that ordered for brand new of that make !!! the lists is there on Wikipedia . don't say I know little or nothing about flights, I have close to 500 hours in flight experience. using more than 8 different airlines to that.
That's not true. It is right there! Check September 18, 2018 (Air Peace - 10).
Not only is it on Wikipedia (see first link and first screenshot), it is also on Boeing's website (see second link and second screenshot).
Boeing is going to update the control software on the 737 MAX — The plane that's crashed twice since October.
Benjamin Zhang 27m
◾The Boeing 737 MAX will receive updated flight control software in the coming weeks.
◾The software announcement comes four months after the crash Lion AirFlight JT610 and two days after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302. Both of which involved effectively brand new Boeing 737 MAX eight airliners.
◾The update will change the way the plane's MCAS control software reacts to faulty sensor readings.
◾Boeing expects the FAA to make the update mandatory.
The Boeing 737 MAX will be receiving updated flight control software, the airplane maker announced on Tuesday. The software announcement comes four months after the crash Lion Air Flight JT610 and two days after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302. Both of which involved effectively brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliners.
In a statement, Boeing said:
"For the past several months and in the aftermath of Lion Air Flight 610, Boeing has been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer. This includes updates to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight control law, pilot displays, operation manuals, and crew training. The enhanced flight control law incorporates angle of attack (AOA) inputs, limits stabilizer trim commands in response to an erroneous angle of attack reading, and provides a limit to the stabilizer command in order to retain elevator authority."
The Chicago-based aviation giant said that update will be implemented across the 737 MAX fleet in the coming weeks.
Boeing expects the US Federal Aviation Administration to issue an Airworthiness Directive "no later than" April to mandating the updated software.
The company has not indicated it will make physical changes to the aircraft that has been in service last spring.
At the heart of the controversy surrounding the 737 MAX is MCAS or the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation system. To fit the MAX's larger, more fuel-efficient engines, Boeing had to redesign the way it mounts engines on the 737. This change disrupted the plane's center of gravity and caused the MAX to have a tendency to tip its nose upward during flight, increasing the likelihood of a stall. MCAS is designed to automatically counteract that tendency and point the nose of the plane downward.
Unfortunately, initial reports from the Lion Air investigation indicate that a faulty sensor reading may have triggered MCAS shortly after the flight took off.
bigtt76: Air Peace say den wan buy naaaaa! Ona nor go advice them on the implications? Isn't it ideal that airlines buying or leasing new aircrafts should get a clearance from you guys first?
Nigeria's Air Peace placed an order for 10 new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts in October 2018.
However, due to the recent crash of a Lion Air plane and an Ethiopian Airways plane, some Nigerians have called for a boycot of Air Peace because the two crahses involved Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts.
Air Peace has now clarified that it is yet to take delivery of the aircraft that it ordered because they are still being manufactured in the United States.
bigtt76: Air Peace say den wan buy naaaaa! Ona nor go advice them on the implications? Isn't it ideal that airlines buying or leasing new aircrafts should get a clearance from you guys first?
boomboy: truth is that model of boeing "737" is a new model having issues now so let some people not talk over because they just might not have been able to afford it ..[color=#770077][/color]
Air Peace ordered for some 736 Max 8, but they've not been delivered yet.
No Boeing 737 Max 8 flying in Nigerian airspace, says NCAA
by Kelvin Osa Okunbor March 12, 2019
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) gave assurance on Tuesday on the state of aircraft flying in the country’s airspace.
The NCAA said there was no cause for worry as no Boeing 747 Max 8 is presently in operation in the country.
Its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye disclosed this in a statement.
He assured the flying public of their safety, stating that there is no cause for alarm.
He said : ” Presently, the accident aircraft type, Boeing 737 Max 8 is not in operation in the Country.
“However, the Authority, in line with its Safety Oversight mandate enshrined in the Civil Aviation Act 2006, is consciously monitoring the development (s) with a view to take the necessary steps that will enhance the safety of all aircraft in operation within the Nigerian airspace.”
Recall that an Ethiopian Airline B737 -Max 8 crashed on Sunday 10th March 2019 killing all the souls on board after which the Airline and some other countries have grounded the accident aircraft type in their operations.
He further said : ” This is to assure the public that NCAA will continue to ensure that safety regulations are strictly adhered to for the safety of all in Nigeria. Our heart is with the Airline and families of the victims of the accident. “
Travel › Re: Several Boeing 737 Max 8 Pilots In U.S. Complained About Suspected Safety Flaw by naptu2(op): 10:37pm On Mar 13, 2019
Isn't it ideal that airlines buying or leasing new aircrafts should get a clearance from you guys first? 
