Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
Business Travel News Europe
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
Business Travel News Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
  • NEWS
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
    SubscribeBTN Europe NewsletterBTN Europe Magazine
  • FEATURES
    • View All Features
    BTN Europe traveller experience index cultural signalsCultural signals
    BTN Europe measuring the traveller experienceWhat is the measure of travel experience?
    BTN Europe traveller experience stop chasing the leisure experienceStop chasing the leisure experience

  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
    Interview: Bertrand Lacotte, board member, AFTMInterview: Bertrand Lacotte, board member, AFTM
    The ‘work from anywhere’ duty of care challengeThe ‘work from anywhere’ duty of care challenge
    Has China’s reopening lived up to the travel industry’s expectations?Has China’s reopening lived up to the travel industry’s expectations?
  • RESOURCES
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
    Tools & ResourcesEurope's Leading TMCs 2022Booking tools – the essential guideTraveller Experience IndexTravel entry requirementsCorporate Travel Index EuropeBTN Europe podcastsBTSE Kick Off - CEO InterviewsRecent issues of BTN Europe
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
    Business Travel Show Europe 2023

    28 - 29 June, ExCeL London

    4th Annual Business Travel Accommodations Summit Europe

    September 2023, In-Person

    7th Annual Global Travel Risk Summit Europe

    Global Travel Risk Summit Europe, September 2023,

  • SUBSCRIBE

Air Travel

Updated: US stands firm on Max 8 airworthy call

By Molly Dyson / 13 March 2019 / Contact Reporter

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues to claim there is no basis to ban the use of the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft model that has been involved in two fatal crashes.

Forty countries including the UK have now called for all Max 8s – and in some cases the entire B737 Max family – to be grounded following the Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crash in which all 157 passengers and crew on board were killed.

It is the second fatal crash involving the Max 8 in five months, with a Lion Air flight plunging into the sea shortly after take-off in October, killing all 189 people on board.

In the latter incident, initial investigations found the pilots may have struggled with a system that could force the nose of the aircraft down if a sensor believes the ‘angle of attack’ is too high on take-off to avoid stalling.

Investigators have not found the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines crash and say they cannot rule out other technical issues or human error. The carrier claims the aircraft involved had been subject to a “rigorous first check maintenance” on 4 February.

However, the FAA says its review of the Ethiopia crash “shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft”. It also says “no other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action”.

In a statement, the governing body said it would take “immediate action” if its investigation did turn up any faults with the aircraft.

The FAA’s stance has proven unpopular with US politicians, including Republican senator Ted Cruz, who chairs a subcommittee on aviation and space, and Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, who wants the US to follow other nations and “get these planes out of the sky”.

And the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union is calling on the FAA to ground the B737 Max fleet “out of an abundance of caution”.

Although the FAA has not banned the Max 8, any US airlines that wish to ground their fleet of the aircraft can do so of their own accord.

Southwest Airlines is continuing to use the aircraft, but is offering passengers the chance to change their booking if they are scheduled to fly on a Max 8 and don’t feel comfortable. American Airlines – which partners with British Airways on some flights to the UK – said its standard change policy applies.

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam has told the Wall Street Journal that the pilot of flight 302 reported "flight control problems" to air traffic control and had requested permission to return to Bole airport in Addis Ababa. He had not mentioned a bird strike or external malfunctions.

GebreMariam has called on all airlines around the globe to ground their 737 Max aircraft and said Ethiopian Airlines will be sending the flight data recorders recovered from the wreckage to European authorities for analysis rather than the US. 

According to the Guardian, it has allegedly emerged that pilots on at least two flights in the US filed safety concerns about the aircraft after its nose tilted down when they engaged autopilot.

One pilot also complained that Boeing had not properly explained changes to the 737 Max's automatic systems and described the flight manual as "inadequate and almost criminally insufficient".

In a statement, Boeing said: "Safety is Boeing's number one priority and we have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max. We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets. We'll continue to engage with them to ensure they have the information needed to have confidence in operating their fleets."

More Air Travel
Related
Icelandair plans to enter new markets with Airbus orderIcelandair commences new service to Prague
Loganair_ATR_72Loganair and Aer Lingus form interline agreement
Schiphol Airport ExteriorIATA warns ‘punitive’ regulation could dampen summer peak

SPONSORED CONTENT

The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?
The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?By Cytric by Amadeus

Does your travel & expense match up?... KEEP READING

The eight trends shaping ground transportation
The eight trends shaping ground transportationBy Enterprise National

Eight emerging ground transportation priorities shaping business travel in 2022 and beyond... KEEP READING

More Air Travel

Icelandair commences new service to Prague
Loganair and Aer Lingus form interline agreement
IATA warns ‘punitive’ regulation could dampen summer peak
Virgin Atlantic returns to Dubai

VIEW ALL
  • Most Read
  • Most Shared
  1. Winners of inaugural Business Travel Sustainability Awards Europe announced
  2. London remains top European city for meetings and events
  3. France formally bans some domestic flights
  4. Independent TMCs ‘outperforming’ the wider market
  5. Heathrow faces summer disruption as pay dispute ‘escalates’
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • EDITORIAL CALENDAR
  • Business Travel Show Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE
NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Business Travel News
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Editorial calendar
  • Editorial guidelines
  • Subscribe to BTN Europe
  • Subscribe to BTN U.S.
  • Subscribe to Travel Procurement
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions
Northstar Travel Group
  • Corporate travel
  • Business Travel Show
  • Business Travel Awards
  • BTN U.S.
  • The Beat
  • Travel Procurement

  • Travel Technology
  • Travel Tech Show
  • Phocuswire
  • Phocuswright
  • Intelliguide
  • Meetings & incentives
  • M&IT
  • AMI
  • ConventionSource
  • M&IT Awards

  • Retail travel
  • Travel Weekly
  • Travel Pulse

  • Northstar Travel Group
  • View all Northstar brands
BTNGroup
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel NewsTravel ProcurementThe BeatBusiness Travel Show Europe
Northstar Travel Group
Copyright ©2022, Northstar Travel Media Ltd, The Epworth, 25 City Road, London EC1Y 1AA, UK
RRManagement rrtestprocurement