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Canada Bans Boeing 737 Max Flights, Citing New Satellite Data Canada Bans Boeing 737 Max Flights, Citing New Satellite Data
(30 minutes later)
Canada’s transport minister grounded all Boeing 737 Max jets, saying that newly available satellite-tracking data suggests similarities between the deadly crash involving one of the jets in Ethiopia on Sunday and another accident last October.Canada’s transport minister grounded all Boeing 737 Max jets, saying that newly available satellite-tracking data suggests similarities between the deadly crash involving one of the jets in Ethiopia on Sunday and another accident last October.
Cautioning that the “new information is not conclusive,” Marc Garneau, the transport minister, on Wednesday also said that Canada would not allow the jets to fly into its airspace. Cautioning that the “new information is not conclusive,” Marc Garneau, the transport minister, on Wednesday also said Canada would not allow the jets to fly into its airspace.
Sunday’s accident followed another deadly crash in Indonesia in October involving a jet flown by Lion Air. Investigators have raised the possibility that a new flight-control system could have contributed to that earlier accident. In both cases, the jets crashed just minutes after erratic takeoffs. The move adds pressure on the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, which so far have resisted calls to ground the jet. The F.A.A. has said it has seen “no systemic performance issues” that would prompt it to do so, but safety regulators in some 42 countries have now banned flights by the jets.
The move adds pressure on the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, which so far have resisted calls to ground the jet. The F.A.A. has said it has seen “no systemic performance issues” that would prompt it to do so.
It could still be weeks before investigators are able to point to the likely cause of the latest crash. Safety regulators in some 42 countries have now banned flights by the jets, with some citing concerns that pilots would be unable to handle the aircraft if they were given inaccurate signals from key flight instruments.
[These countries have grounded the planes.][These countries have grounded the planes.]
One of the two pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines flight reported “flight-control problems” to air traffic controllers minutes before the plane crashed. This suggests that a problem with the handling of the aircraft or the computerized flight control system was a factor. The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 killed all 157 people on board. The circumstances appeared similar to those in the crash of a 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air, an Indonesian carrier, last October in which 189 people were killed. In both cases, the jets crashed just minutes after erratic takeoffs.
The pilot told controllers that he wanted to turn back to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa and was cleared to do so, three minutes before contact was lost with the cockpit, a spokesman for the airline said on Wednesday. During his news conference, Mr. Garneau said that on Wednesday morning officials and experts compared satellite tracing data showing the vertical path of the Ethiopian jet at take off with similar data from the Lion Air crash in October.
Mr. Garneau, a former astronaut and engineer, said that there were similarities that “exceed a certain threshold in our minds with respect to the possible cause of what happened in Ethiopia. This is not conclusive, but it is something that points possibly in that direction, and at this point we feel that threshold has been crossed.”
Canada’s decision comes after Ethiopian Airlines said that one of two pilots on Sunday’s flight reported “flight-control problems” to air traffic controllers minutes before the plane crashed and told controllers that he wanted to turn back to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. The pilot was cleared to do so, three minutes before contact was lost with the cockpit, a spokesman for the airline said on Wednesday.
The disclosure suggests that a problem with the handling of the aircraft or the computerized flight control system could have been a factor. There has been no suggestion so far of terrorism or other outside interference in the functioning of the aircraft, which was only a few months old.
[Read the latest updates on the crash and the fallout.][Read the latest updates on the crash and the fallout.]
Officials examining the Indonesia crash have raised the possibility that a new flight-control system could have contributed to that earlier accident. As they banned flights by the aircraft this week, some safety regulators cited concerns that pilots would be unable to handle the aircraft if they were given inaccurate signals from key flight instruments.
“We are facing uncertainties about whether pilots have the courage or the capability to fly” if an aircraft has difficulties, said Li Jian, the deputy director of China’s Civil Aviation Administration, the first to ground the 737 Max. Europe and other countries in Asia have followed suit, and roughly two-thirds of the Boeing Max 8 aircraft in the world have been pulled from use since Sunday’s crash.
The F.A.A. has cautioned against drawing too many similarities between the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia before the investigation is completed. It could still be weeks before investigators are able to point to the likely cause of the latest crash.
The Ethiopian Airlines spokesman, Asrat Begashaw, said Ethiopia would ask a foreign country for help analyzing the flight data and voice recorders, known as the black boxes, recovered from the wreckage. He said the airline had not yet decided where to send the black boxes.The Ethiopian Airlines spokesman, Asrat Begashaw, said Ethiopia would ask a foreign country for help analyzing the flight data and voice recorders, known as the black boxes, recovered from the wreckage. He said the airline had not yet decided where to send the black boxes.
The two recorders must be taken to a specialized center to read their data, said Lynnette Dray, an aviation expert and senior research associate at University College London.The two recorders must be taken to a specialized center to read their data, said Lynnette Dray, an aviation expert and senior research associate at University College London.
“If the boxes are intact, then they will be able to take the data off them and look at it immediately,” Dr. Dray said.“If the boxes are intact, then they will be able to take the data off them and look at it immediately,” Dr. Dray said.
[Read more about Boeing’s efforts to contain fallout from the crash.]
The 737 Max is Boeing’s best-selling jet ever and expected to be a major driver of profit, with around 5,000 of the planes on order. The accidents have put Boeing on the defensive, and the aircraft maker issued a statement on Tuesday that said it had “full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max.”
The manufacturer has been updating its training guidelines and manuals so that airlines can teach their pilots to fly the planes more safely and easily.