China has banned 223 of its Boeing aircrafts after a deadly crash earlier this week that killed 132 people on board
China’s Eastern Airlines on Ghursy, March 24 announced they have temporarily grounded 223 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, airline spokesperson Liu Xiaodong said in a press conference .
The grounded aircraft is undergoing safety inspection and maintenance to ensure that they are safe to fly, Liu said.
The move comes days after China Eastern Airlines flight 5735 crashed in a remote, mountainous region in the south of the country as it flew from Kunming to Guangzhou, with reports that up to 132 people on board have died as no survivors had been found after a third day of search efforts.
The cause of Monday’s crash has yet to be determined. But the discovery of the cockpit voice recorder on Wednesday might provide crucial clues to how the disaster unfolded. It is one of two so-called “black boxes,” with investigators still searching for the flight data recorder
The 737-800 is the most common version of Boeing’s jets now in service, and it is the workhorse of many airlines’ fleets.
There are about 4,502 of the Boeing 737-800s now in service worldwide, making it by far the most common Boeing aircraft in use today. It is the most common plane model in the United States, where there are 795 in service, as well as in China, which has 1,177 in service.
