New Delhi: India on Tuesday grounded Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, two days after 157 persons were killed on such a plane during a flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya. SpiceJet has around 12 such planes in its fleet, while Jet Airways has five which it claims are not in use. Germany, Britain, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Oman were among the other countries which banned Max 8 planes from their airspaces on Tuesday. The decisions are expected to cause considerable disruption in global air travel.
By now, at least 27 airlines have grounded the Max 8, which has crashed twice in five months. Boeing stands by the airworthiness of the jet, but it said it planned to issue a software update and was working on changes to its flight controls and training guidelines. But even as the global turbulence continued, the aircraft has found a supporter in SpiceJet. The low-cost airline jumped to the defence of the latest model of Boeing saying, “The 737 MAX is a highly sophisticated aircraft.”