Effective immediately, all commercial passenger Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft are prohibited from arriving into, leaving from or flying above Canadian airspace.
The move comes three days after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed in Addis Ababa, killing 157 passengers, including 18 Canadians. A Lion Air aircraft of the same make and model crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189 people.
“Following advice from Transport Canada Civil Aviation experts, as a precautionary measure, I am issuing a safety notice to address this issue,” Transport Minister Marc Garneau said. “This safety notice restricts commercial passenger flights from any air operator, both domestic and foreign, of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft.
“The advice the experts have provided is based on the information they have been receiving; the requirements for new procedures and training for Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 flight crews they have already put in place; and the latest information available from the incidents.”
Garneau said it is still too soon to speculate about what caused the crash in Ethiopia and whether or not it was related to the same issue that affected the plane in Indonesia.
The restriction will remain until further notice.
@EmmaHampelBIV
