Travelers pay close attention to planes in wake of Ethiopian Airlines crash

Some air travelers say they are paying close attention to the planes they are flying on following the Ethiopian Airlines disaster.

News 12 Staff

Mar 13, 2019, 12:16 AM

Updated 2,115 days ago

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Travelers pay close attention to planes in wake of Ethiopian Airlines crash
Some air travelers say they are paying close attention to the planes they are flying on following the Ethiopian Airlines disaster.

Sunday's airplane crash in Ethiopia is the second Boeing 737 Max 8 that has crashed within six months. In October, a Lion Air jetliner of the same model similarly crashed shortly after takeoff.
“I don’t think that’s coincidental. I think that needs to be looked into,” says Terry Giles of White Plains.

Some countries have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, or even banned them from their airspace, in the wake of the crash.  In an unusual move so soon after an airplane crash, aviation experts are calling for the same in the U.S.

"This is certainly different. You have two brand-new aircraft that under similar circumstances that have suffered these accidents and we don't really have a good answer as to why,” says Bill McGee, of Consumer Reports.

The only U.S. airlines that have the Boeing 737 Max 8 are American Airlines and Southwest.

Southwest has 34 of them, but it said in a statement that it remains confident in the safety and airworthiness of its fleet. American, which has 24 of them, says the same.

“If you’re going to err, err on the side of safety to be sure…If I was going to fly, I would certainly inquire on what type of plane would I be flying. Something’s wrong in my opinion,” says Giles.

The FAA said in a statement, “Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues, and provides no basis to order the grounding of the aircraft.”