Trump grounds Boeing 737 Max planes after fatal crashes

Image: JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images

A fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash this weekend has prompted President Donald Trump to ground all U.S. airplanes of a similar model.

Boeing launched an investigation on Tuesday after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday. The aircraft — a Boeing 737 Max 8 — was  the same model involved in the fatal Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October.

President Trump at a White House panel made the announcement about grounding both Boeing 737  Max 8 and 9 planes in the U.S.

Any Boeing 737 Max 8 planes that were in the air during the announcement will be allowed to continue to their destination. Once the aircrafts land, they will be forbidden from flying in U.S. airspace along with other Max 8 and Max 9 aircrafts.

The U.S. is the last of any major developed country to ground the aircrafts. China, Germany, France, Canada, the U.K., and other countries grounded the planes much sooner after the Sunday crash.

A petition circulated Tuesday calling for the Boeing 737 Max 8 crafts to stop flying on Southwest and American flights. A New York Times analysis found U.S. companies Southwest and American airlines are the top carriers that use the planes in its fleets. 

The FAA released a statement shortly after President Trump’s press conference, explaining that the Boeing 737 would be forbidden from being operated  by any U.S. airlines or in any U.S. territory.

The FAA’s statement was markedly different from the one the agency released on Tuesday, when it said it  was reviewing planes and that its review so far provided “no basis to order grounding the aircraft.“

Boeing issued a statement immediately following Trump’s announcement, noting its “full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max” but that it supports the decision to temporarily ground its planes.