The federal government has banned Boeing 737 Max-8 aircraft from flying in the nation’s airspace, Igbere TV reports.
This is coming after 72hours following the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that claimed 157 lives on Sunday.
Igbere TV reports that the crash involved a Boeing 737 Max-8 plane, which crashed 6 minutes after it took off from the airport in Addis Ababa en route Nairobi, Kenya.
Minister of Aviation (State)
Igbere TV reports that countries like UK, Australia, China and Ethiopia have ordered Airlines operating in their countries to ground the Boeing 737 Max-8 planes till further notice.
The Ethiopian Air crash follows a similar Boeing 737 Max-8 incident in October last year that claimed 189 lives in Indonesia.
Announcing its decision, the federal government said the ban will be in full force pending the conclusion of the investigation on the Ethiopian Airline’s flight ET302.
The minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika stated this at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Muhamamdu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
Speaking with newsmen at the end of the meeting that lasted for over two hours, Sirika said directives have been issued to that effect.
He said: “There is no cause for alarm; no operator is using that type of aircraft in the country. The civil aviation authority has already issued advisory that nobody should fly in or out of the country, using the Boeing 737 Max, pending the determination of the actual cause of the crash in Ethiopia and pending the outcome of the response of the manufacturers.
“Regardless of the enormous safety records of this machine, it has caused concern in the world of aviation. You know aviation is universal, there is no aviation A or B.
“We have issued directives that no operator with Boeing 737 Max aircraft should operate into or out of the country’s airports.”
More to come…
