Aviation authorities have grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from taking off, landing or even flying over the UK.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority spoke out this afternoon stating that they had issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator in UK airspace.
The decision was made after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 crashed six minutes after take off on Sunday, killing all 157 on board.
A spokesperson for the UK Civil Aviation Authority said: ‘Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the tragic incident in Ethiopia on Sunday.
‘The UK Civil Aviation Authority has been closely monitoring the situation, however, as we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace.
‘The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s safety directive will be in place until further notice.
‘We remain in close contact with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and industry regulators globally.’
There are currently five 737 MAX aircraft registered and operational in the United Kingdom. A sixth was planned to commence operations later this week.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for certifying all Boeing 737 MAX models and it is the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that validates this certification across the EU, including the UK.
