President Trump Says FAA Will Ground Boeing 737 Max Jets

Boeing 737 MAX 8 Planes Face Renewed Scrutiny After Second Crash In 5 Months

President Donald Trump announced that the Federal Aviation Administration will ground all Boeing 737 Max jets following two crashes in the last six months that killed 346 people. The decision comes after numerous other countries, including Canada and Great Britain, banned the planes from entering their airspace.

"Pilots have been notified, airlines have been all notified. Airlines are agreeing with this. The safety of the American people and all people is our paramount concern," President Trump told reporters at the White House.

There are around 350 Boeing 737 Max planes in service around the world, and they are flown by airlines including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The grounding order also includes the Max 9, which is part of United Airlines' fleet.

The FAA had been resisting calls to ground the jets in the United States saying earlier in the week that they did not find "systemic performance issues” with the new planes. Despite that, Boeing asked the FAA to ground their entire fleet "out of an abundance of caution."

"We are supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution. Safety is a core value at Boeing for as long as we have been building airplanes; and it always will be," Dennis Muilenburg, president of Boeing, said in a statement.

Photo: Getty Images


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