Comair chooses to ground its Boeing 737 Max 8 until further notice

Comair has joined the growing number of airlines to ground their Boeing 737 MAX 8. Comair issued a statement on Monday 11 March confirming that executive director Wrenelle Stander made the decision even though regulatory authorities or manufacturers had not required them to do so.

The Ethiopian Airline, Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed in the early hours of Sunday 10 March. The aircraft left Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was scheduled to land in Nairobi, Kenya. However, it crashed six minutes after departure. The crash claimed the lives of 149 passengers and eight crew members.

A similar incident occurred in October 2018, with Lion Air, when the same aircraft type was taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia and crashed 13 minutes after take-off. That disaster claimed 189 lives.

On 11 March the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) released a statement ordering all Chinese airlines to ground their Boeing 737 MAX-8 jets. Ethiopian Airlines has also decided to ground their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

Comair had originally issued a statement, on 11 March, expressing their sadness for the incident but had decided against grounding their Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet. However, given the concerns for safety, they have decided to leave they craft unoperational pending consultations with other operators, Boeing and technical experts.

“The safety and confidence of our customers and crew is always our priority,” Stander said. DM