Irish authorities temporarily ban Boeing 737 MAX aircraft
Ireland’s aviation authority on Tuesday said that it was temporarily banning all models of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from Irish airspace.
“This decision has been taken based on ensuring the continued safety of passengers and flight crew,” the authority said in a statement.
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The suspension, made in the wake of a second fatal crash involving the model in just five months, went into effect from 3pm local time, and follows a similar decision by UK authorities.
Sunday’s crash of an Ethiopian Airlines saw all 157 people on board killed.
The authority said that it had been “closely monitoring the situation,” but because sufficient information had not been obtained from the flight data recorder, it was stopping any commercial passenger flights on Boeing 737 MAX aircraft as “a precautionary measure.”
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The statement strongly echoed that of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, which gave similar reasoning for its decision.
Authorities in Germany, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Oman also introduced bans.
The moves follow statements by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who said on Monday that his airline was not currently planning on cancelling its order of more than 130 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
The airline, one of Europe’s largest, is expected to take a delivery of one of the new jets at the end of April, followed by two in May, and another two in June.
A further 50 of the aircraft will be delivered before it begins its summer season in 2020. The 737 MAX has become Boeing’s fastest-selling plane.
