A day after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed and killed all 157 people on board, Boeing is facing renewed pressure regarding its 737 Max 8 planes—now at the center of two fatal crashes.
The latest is from a former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety inspector. Speaking to CNN on Monday morning, David Soucie noted that while he has “never, ever done this before,” he would suggest that Americans think twice before boarding a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane.
“I’ve never said that, ‘Hey, it’s unsafe to fly a particular model’ but in this case, I’m going to have to go there,” he said. “I just looked at the flight data of that aircraft: It’s strikingly similar, same issues we had with the Max Air. So yeah, I would watch for that airplane.”
"I've never, ever done this. I've never said that, 'hey, it's unsafe to fly a particular model' but in this case, I'm going to have to go there… So yeah I would watch for that airplane," – fmr. FAA Safety Inspector @David_Soucie on the Boeing 737 MAX 8. https://t.co/PgcNELgjxmpic.twitter.com/qGKSt4WCru
— CNN News Central (@NewsCentralCNN) March 11, 2019
Following the crash, a number of airlines have decided to ground their own fleets of the model, including Ethiopian Airlines itself and Cayman Airways. China and Indonesia have also issued orders to ground all domestic flights that use the 737 Max 8.
But there are still hundreds that have not received such orders. Approximately 350 737 Max 8s are in operation worldwide, used by 57 operators. This includes a number of U.S.-operated airlines, such as American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Air Canada, Aeromexico, Norwegian Air, Icelandair, and WestJet are among others that also currently have and operate the 737 Max 8.