Boeing 737 Max: Indonesia lifts ban behind Lion Air crash in 2018
Written byTimes Magazine
Indonesia lifted the Boeing 737 Max ban more than three years after the Lion Air crash that killed all 189 people on board.
The planemaker shut down its world's best-selling plane after the Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in March 2019.
On Monday, Ethiopian Airlines announced that it would resume similar flights in February.
The report comes months after the planes returned to service in the United States and Europe.
More than 180 countries have allowed the 737 Max, with Australia, Japan, India, Malaysia, and Singapore lifting their bans this year.
In a statement, Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation said that the lifting of the ban would take effect immediately and that regulatory controls would follow changes to the aircraft's systems.
The ministry also said airlines must follow airworthiness directives and inspect their planes before flying the 737 Max again, adding that government officials will also check the aircraft.
Lion Air, which operated ten such aircraft before the ban, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the news.
Indonesian airline Garuda has announced that it will not reintroduce the aircraft into its fleet, focusing on debt restructuring.
The state-owned company, which only operated the 737 Max before the plane was decommissioned, said it planned to reduce its fleet from 142 to 66 as part of its recovery plan.
On October 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in the Java Sea 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
A Boeing 737 Max en route to Kenya, crashed six minutes after leaving the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board.
"We needed sufficient time to monitor design changes and a rigorous adjustment process that lasted more than 20 months ... our pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians, and cabin crew are confident in the safety of the fleet," said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian. Airline. said in a statement about the resumption of 737 Max flights.
Trending News
