TASHKENT (TCA) — The civil aviation agency of Uzbekistan on March 13 said that the country has decided to suspend Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 aircraft into and out of its airports until further notice, after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
“We have temporarily suspended receiving and sending of such flights. However, such liners still can pass Uzbek air corridors if on transit,” an Uzbek aviation official told Xinhua.
Uzbekistan airliners do not have Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
Uzbekistan has joined the ranks of countries grounding Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft amid mounting safety concerns after the second crash of the same model in less than five months, including India, Poland, New Zealand, Fiji, Italy, Turkey, France, Germany, Britain, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and China, among others.
An Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed shortly after taking off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Sunday morning local time, killing all 157 people on board.
In October 2018, a Lion Air plane, also a 737 MAX 8, crashed into the sea off the Indonesian capital Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
Despite the two crashes, Boeing said in a statement on March 12 that it has “full confidence in the safety of the 737 MAX,” adding that “safety is Boeing’s number one priority.”
