Canada joins ban on Boeing crash aircraft

Canada has grounded the world’s third largest fleet of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet on Sunday.

The country’s regulator said that three Canadian airlines, operating 41 Max 8 jets, would be unable to use them in Canada’s airspace.

Canada joins a long list of countries to halt the aircraft’s use. But the US regulator says it is safe to fly.

Canada’s transport minister said it had received new evidence about the crash.

Marc Garneau said that satellite data showed possible similarities between flight patterns of Boeing 737 Max planes operating in Canada and the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed.

He said: “As a result of new data that we received this morning, and had the chance to analyze, and on the advice of my experts and as a precautionary measure, I issued a safety notice.

“This safety notice restricts commercial passenger flights from any operator of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 or MAX 9 variant aircraft, whether domestic or foreign, from arriving, departing or overflying Canadian air space.

“This safety notice is effective immediately and will remain in place until further notice.”

The UK, the European Union, China, Australia and India are among the countries that have suspended the Boeing 737 Max from their airspace.

However, the US Federal Aviation Administration said a review had showed “no systemic performance issues” and that there was no basis for grounding the aircraft.

On Wednesday, the chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam told the BBC that all 737 Max aircraft worldwide should be grounded until the causes of the crash were known.