Washington, Mar 12 (Sputnik/UNI): The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to temporarily halt all US flights of Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane during an investigation of two recent crashes, including Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people, Senator Mitt Romney said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Out of an abundance of caution for the flying public, the @FAANews should ground the 737 MAX 8 until we investigate the causes of recent crashes and ensure the plane’s airworthiness," Romney said in a Twitter message.
The FAA has allowed the Boeing 737 Max 8 to continue flying, even as a list of nations that grounded the aircraft continued to grow on Tuesday with a UK decision to halt flights. Australia, China, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia had earlier halted flights.
The US aviation agency said it would take immediate action if it identifies any issues with Boeing 737 Max that affect flight safety.
The latest crash in Ethiopia is the second fatal incident involving the narrow-body aircraft in less than five months. In late October 2018, another Boeing 737 MAX 8, operated by Indonesia's Lion Air, plunged into the Java Sea shortly after take-off, claiming the lives of 189 people.
While external reports have compared Sunday's accident in Ethiopia to a similar crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 in Indonesia in October, the FAA said that it has not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions.
IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons
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