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It took less than a week for Boeing’s 737 MAX to be grounded following its second accident in five months. More than 300 MAX planes were taken out of service. The commercial plane was launched in 2011 and made its first journey in 2016

BOEING 737 MAX 8

The first variant developed in the 737 MAX series replaced the 737-800. MAX 8 has a lower empty weight and a higher maximum take-off weight. It is bigger, more powerful, more efficient and has a redesigned cabin.

THE TRIGGER

The Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 jet, flight 302, departed from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on March 10, bound for Nairobi, Kenya. Soon after take-off the pilots told the control tower they needed to return and land. Six minutes after leaving, the aircraft crashed 64km from the airport at 8.44am killing 149 passengers and 8 crew members on board totalling 30 nationalities.

Day 1

115planes grounded Day 2

84planes grounded Day 3

88planes grounded Total planes grounded

332 Grounded

0

Day 1

115planes grounded Day 2

84planes grounded Day 388planes grounded Total planes grounded

332

NOTE: ESTIMATED NUMBERS

Five months earlier, on October 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after taking off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. All 189 people on board died. The accident is still being investigated.

WHERE ARE THEY STORED?

Because of the global grounding of 737 MAX fleets, airlines have been moving them into storage. Here some of the airports where aircraft are being kept.

Source: www.flightradar24.com

NOTE: Data also includes MAX aircraft produced by Boeing that have powered on their transponders, but may not yet have been delivered to an airline

THE SUSPECT

An automated system is suspected of causing the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air crashes. The Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, is a set of sensors and software that helps pilots when the wings are losing lift because the aircraft is climbing steeply.

If the plane does not have enough lift, an ‘aerodynamic blockage’ can occur, causing it to stall. The MCAS is supposed to correct this, allowing the aircraft to recover speed and climb. SOFTWARE UPDATE

Boeing announced last week that it would soon release a patch that fixes their MCAS autopilot system.

Software patch for Boeing’s troubled 737 MAX is ‘ready’

OTHER AIRCRAFT GROUNDINGS IN HISTORY

Banning planes from flying is rare and the 737 Max is only the eight aircraft grounded in aviation history.

1946: Lockheed Constellation

Grounded: July 12, 1946 Reason: Fatal in-flight fire on TWA Flight 513 on July 11, 1946 1947: Douglas DC-6

Grounded: November 11, 1947 Reason: A series of inflight fires including the fatal crash of United Airlines Flight 608 on Oct 24, 1947 1954: de Havilland Comet

Grounded: 1954 Reason: Two in-flight break up accidents involving BOAC Flight 781 and South African Airways Flight 201 1979: McDonnell Douglas DC-10

Grounded: June 6, 1979 Reason: Doubt about the engine pylon assembly following the crash of American Airlines flight 191 1982: Yakovlev Yak-42

Grounded: 1982 Reason: Design fault which caused horizontal stabiliser screw jack mechanism to fail on a Yak-42 on June 28, 1982, killing 132 2000: Concorde

Grounded: August 16, 2000 Reason: Doubts about the fuel tank safety following the crash of Air France flight 4590 2013: Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Grounded: January 16, 2013 Reason: Two lithium ion battery failures on January 7 and January 16 2019: Boeing 737 MAX

Grounded: March 13, 2019 Reason: Fatal accidents involving Lion Air 601 and Ethiopian 302















