CAAB won't allow airlines to use Boeing Max 8 planes

No airlines of Bangladesh would be allowed to operate the Boeing 737 Max family of aircraft until the probe reports of the two 737 Max 8 crashes are revealed, said Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

However, foreign operators can use the plane here, CAAB said.

CAAB came up with the decision following the crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines, considered one of the safest airlines in Africa, on Sunday that killed 157 people.

The Nairobi-bound plane crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa.

A 737 Max 8 of Indonesia's Lion Air crashed in similar fashion in October killing 189 people.

In both cases, the aircraft were new and the accident happened soon after take-off.

After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, China, Indonesia, and Ethiopia ordered their airlines to ground the 737 Max 8. Aerolineas of Argentina, Mexico's Aeromexico and Brazil's Gol have also suspended flights of the aircraft, reports CNN.

Singapore and Australia yesterday said there were suspending operation of all variants of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft into and out of their countries.

Wing Commander Chy M Zia Ul Kabir, director (flight safety & regulations) of CAAB last night told The Daily Star that CAAB would not allow any local carrier to use the 737 Max if the probes found the aircraft family to be faulty and responsible for the crashes.

Kabir said no Bangladeshi carrier uses the Max 8 variant of the Boeing 737.

He said CAAB would have no objection if any foreign airlines operate flights in Bangladesh using the Max 8 aircraft.

A local carrier on February 19 signed a deal with a global aircraft leasing company to lease a new Boeing 737 Max 8 for 12 years. The plane was scheduled to be delivered in 2020.

Rolled out in 2017, the Boeing 737 Max 8 is the latest iteration of the 737 line. By the end of January, Boeing had delivered 350 of the 5,011 orders it received.