Boeing under scrutiny after Ethiopian crash: Live updates | CNN (2024)

Our live coverage has concluded, but you can catch up on the latest developments surrounding the 737 Max 8 aircraft below:

The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) in Paris has tweeted a picture of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), provided by the Ethiopian investigation team.

President Donald Trump called his decision to groundBoeing’s 737 MAX planes a “big decision” and said thatBoeinghas to quickly find a solution.

“They have to find out what it is. I’m not sure that they know, but I thought we had to do it. We had to take a cautionary route,” Trump said. “They have to figure it out fast.”

Trump still praisedBoeingas “one of the truly great companies of the world” and noted that they are one of the US’s “largest exporters.”

A UN official says the United Nations is recommending staff not fly on Boeing 737 Max series aircraft.

An Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed Sunday killing everyone on board, including 21 UN staff.Most of the UN personnel were headed to a UN conference in Nairobi.

The advisory, which came in a letter sent before the US demanded the planes grounded, came from the UN staff and security division. It said that UN personnel should not be booked on the aircraft by UN travel units.

A UN official says if a UN staffer was booked on such a flight they can get assistance in rebooking. The decision was taken out of an abundance of caution until investigations determine what caused the crash.

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Senator Richard Blumenthal, who called forcefully this week for the grounding of the Boeing aircrafts as country after country made the decision to do that on their own, condemned the FAA for its slow response and called for an investigation.

Calling it the “right decision but unacceptably overdue,” Blumenthal told reporters the US “should be leading not lagging in air safety.”

“I believe there needs to be an investigation to determine who knew what when and why they failed to act earlier,” he said. “It’s not only a black eye, it’s a punch in the gut to the FAA that it was behind the rest of the world in basic safety. The FAA should be ashamed and embarrassed by its lagging and lagging response to this crisis in the skies which will create a confidence crisis for the FAA.”

Markets just opened in the US, and Boeing’s stock continued to slide.

Shares fell a half percentage point Thursday after the FAA grounded all 737 Max jets. The grounding comes after Sunday’s fatal Ethiopian Airlinescrash — the second accident involving a 737 Max jet in nearly six months.

Millions of passengers have flown on Boeing’s Max planes in the past two years without even realizing it. But in the days between Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash and Wednesday’s decision to ground the jets in the U.S., many people were well aware of the aircraft type they were traveling on.

Passenger Jenny Meads said she was “nervous” when she boarded a flight in Oakland and learned she was on a Max 8 plane. She only became aware of it when she saw the plane’s safety pamphlet in the seat pocket.

CNN affiliate KPRCreporter Vincent Crivelli tweeted mid-flight from a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane that was flying from Houston to San Francisco. He photographed the safety pamphlet about the aircraft, which was one of the types grounded.

This post has been updated to remove a reference that misidentified a passenger aboard a plane as being on a 737 Max 8.

The final Max 8 plane still flying landed in Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, around eight hours ago, according to popular aircraft-tracking site FlightRadar24.

It was an Air Canada flight from San Francisco that took off shortly before President Trump announced that the U.S. would be grounding all Boeing Max jets.

Today, the world’s skies are completely empty of the jet that, just three and a half years ago, Boeing said would take the 737 model “to the next level of performance.”

Whether and when the Max series will fly again remains to be seen – you can read about the jet’s maiden flight in 2016 here.

An American Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 is towed to its gate at the Miami International Airporton Wednesday.

Boeing’s 737 Max series, now steeped in controversy and grounded around the world, is the fastest-selling model in the history of the firm. The company has delivered 376 Max planes to airlines – but a further 4,636 from around the world are unfulfilled, according to Boeing’s latest reports.

What happens to those orders is a crucial question, and one that is undoubtedly being discussed by carriers already. While some airlines will have the luxury of time before making a decision on their orders, others are expecting new planes – which they are currently unable to fly – to be delivered in the coming weeks and months.

American Airlines has 76 Max planes still to be delivered, United is expecting 123, and Southwest – which already flew more Max jets than any other carrier – is awaiting 249 more. In addition, several US companies that buy planes and lease them out to carriers have placed orders for more than 100 planes.

Ethiopian Airlines, which suffered Sunday’s crash, still has 25 Max planes on order. Lion Air, whose Max jet went down in October, has 187 on order.

In Europe, budget carrier Ryanair is awaiting all 135 of its Max orders. TUI Airways – one of the UK’s largest air carriers– saw its fleet of 14 Max planes grounded this week, but it must make a decision on its 58 orders.

A full list of Boeing’s deliveries and orders for its Max planes can be found here.

Boeing's factory in Renton, Washington.

Japan has joined the list of countries banning the entry of Boeing 737 Max planes into the country’s airspace.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said in a statement on Thursday that Japan has suspended the Max8 and Max 9 models from its airspace and would inform all foreign airlines operating in the country.

What this means: Boeing said yesterday it agreed with the U.S. decision to suspend flights by Max jets. The move followed similar action by Canada, the European Union and countries across Asia, meaning the fleet was essentially grounded worldwide.

But Japan’s move also throws into question what airlines will do with their outstanding orders for Boeing’s Max planes. While no Japanese airlines currently operate Max jets, Boeing had orders from the country for future deliveries.

Before her flight, Carol Karanja texted her father, John Quindos Karanja, and expressed unease about her impending journey.

“The day before the flight my daughter sent me a message – and she told me, ‘I’m not excited … I don’t know what is happening dad. I am fearing and I don’t know what it is in me,’ She had fears,” her father said. “So I thought that was normal. We never interacted again.”

Carol never made it to their Kenyan homeland. She was among the 157 people killed when the Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed just six minutes after takeoff from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.

Also killed was Carol’s mother, Ann Wangui Karanja, and her three children: Ryan Njoroge, 7, Kellie Pauls, 4, and 9-month-old daughter, Rubi Pauls.

Members of the surrounding community watch as investigators continue recovery efforts at the crash siteon Wednesday.

The flight recorders, or black boxes, from Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 arrived in Paris this morning, as the investigation into why the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane went down reaches a crucial phase.

A French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety spokesman said that the two black boxes would contain flight parameters as well as conversations in the co*ckpit.

He said there were fewer than a dozen laboratories around the world capable of reading the devices. Ethiopia had requested France’s assistance investigating the material as that country didn’t have the necessary equipment.

While a final report on the crash could take years, initial clues as to what caused the disaster should come from the black boxes in the next few days.

Meanwhile, the crash scene is quieter and tidier than in the days immediately following the crash. Families of some of the victims were on the site on Wednesday to pay their respects, after investigators spent days sorting through debris and remains, and searching for evidence.

An American Airlines Boeing 737

Boeing begins the day facing serious concerns over its newest aircraft that threaten to tarnish its reputation for safety.

Shares in the company (BA)fell 3% on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced he would immediately ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, the model that has been involved in two fatal crashes in less than six months. The company’s stock is still down more than 10% since the crash, wiping more than $25 billion off its market value.

Boeing said it remains confident in the safety of the jets, but that it recommended the shutdown itself “out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety,” according to a statement from the company.

“We are supporting this proactive step,” CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in the statement. “We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again.”

But questions remain over why Boeing waited days to announce its support for the move, despite several countries taking the action themselves.

Read more about the financial impact on Boeing here.