Australia bans Boeing 737 MAX 8 flights following second deadly crash

The fallout from the second crash involving Boeing’s newest 737 passenger jet has reached Australian shores after it became the latest country to ground the aircraft.

The Australian civil aviation authority has followed similar moves announced by China, Indonesia, the Cayman Islands, Ethiopia, Mongolia and Morocco earlier this week.

On Tuesday, South Africa, Singapore and Vietnam also announced that they are grounding the troubled aircraft. India’s aviation regulator also tightened norms governing the operation the jet.

The measures come days after Boeing’s latest 737 flying from Ethiopia to Kenya crashed on Sunday, killing 157 people.

The deadly crash occurred less than five months after another brand new 737 MAX 8, belonging to Indonesian airline Lion Air, fell into the Java Sea just 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, claiming the lives of all 189 people on board.

Earlier this week, the US Federal Aviation Administration reaffirmed the airworthiness of the Boeing 737 MAX. The agency said that, while “external reports are drawing similarities” between the accidents, which killed 346 people in total, it’s too early to judge if a common issue was to blame.

US carriers continue to operate the aircraft despite the two recent crashes.

American Airlines has not grounded the 24 jumbo jets in its fleet, saying it would await the investigation into the crash.

Southwest, which operates 34 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, said it remains “confident in the safety of our fleet.”

Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace group, pledged to upgrade the software on its 737 MAX 8 within weeks. The company has been reportedly working on “the flight control software enhancement” since the crash in the Java Sea in October.

The deadly crash, along with the subsequent groundings across the world, sent Boeing shares plummeting 12 percent on Monday, wiping out over $28 billion from the company’s market value. Boeing stock bounced back slightly but is still down by around five percent in pre-market trading on Tuesday.

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