Ban leaves US isolated, as Nigeria passengers cancel trips over B737 MAX fear
Pilot experienced difficulty with plane before crash-Gabremariam
The ban by many countries of B737 MAX 8 from their airspaces may leave the United States virtuallyisolated in allowing the model to fly.
European regulators have already grounded the B737 MAX along with China, Australia, India and others around the world. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Boeing and US airlines continue to maintain the 737 Max is safe to fly.
The decision by Washington’s North American neighbour where 41 737 Max planes are operated by Air Canada, WestJet and Sunwing Airlines, will further fuel the pressure in the US for regulators to act.
In a swift reaction, Boeing said: “We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets. We’ll continue to engage with them to ensure they have the information needed to have confidence in operating their fleets.”
In response to public fears expressed about the plane, some travel booking websites and travel agents in Nigeria and outside Nigeria are now allowing customers to exclude the aircraft types from searches, as nervous passengers seek alternative flights.
A travel agent in Ikeja, Lagos who spoke to Woleshadarenews under condition of anonymity said that intending passengers who plan to travel to the United States, Canada and Europe are inquiring for aircraft for their connecting flights out of Nigeria.
“Many of them came to our office to cancel their booking thinking that all aircraft are B737MAX until we explained to them and assured them that many of the aircraft types had been grounded and barred from the airspace of many countries around the world”.
It has emerged that pilots on at least two US flights last year filed safety concerns about the aircraft after its nose tilted down suddenly when they engaged the autopilot.
The pilots’ reports were filed in a database compiled by NASA that does not reveal the airlines or locations.
On one flight, the co-pilot said the nose pitched downward and the plane began descending at 1,200 to 1,500ft a minute before the captain disconnected the autopilot.
Another pilot complained that Boeing had not explained changes to the plane’s automatic functions, describing the flight manual as “inadequate and almost criminally insufficient”.
The FAA said it was continuing to review all data from operators and pilots, but the review so far showed “no systematic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft. Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action.”
In the US, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines operate the Max 8, and United Airlines flies a slightly larger version, the Max 9. All three carriers vouched for the safety of Max aircraft on Wednesday.
A glimpse of what happened to the ill-fated flight ET302 which crashed six minutes after take-off from Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is beginning to unravel.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam gave account of cockpit voice recordings that the pilot of the doomed aircraft told controllers he was having control problems before the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet crashed.
“The pilot did not mention bird strikes or external problems, but requested permission to return to Bole airport in Addis Ababa within minutes of take-off. The pilot “reported back to air traffic controllers that he was having flight control problems”, but cited no other issues, Tewolde GebreMariam told the Wall Street Journal”.
He disclosed that the airline is planning to send the 737 Max 8 plane’s flight data recorder to Europe rather than the US for analysis.
Boeing, the United States based aircraft manufacturer’s new Max model was certified to fly by the FAA in March 2017.
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