MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency has sent formal requests to aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of the Boeing 737 Max 8 crash, which occurred on March 10 in Ethiopia, the aviation agency reports. There are currently two aircraft of this model operating in Russia.
"Rosaviatsiya sent corresponding requests to a Boeing representative in Russia, as well as to the US Federal Aviation Administration, since this aircraft is designed and manufactured in the US, to provide recommendations on ensuring flight safety onboard the Boeing 737 Max 8," the air agency stated.
The aviation authority also sent a request to Globus airline (S7 Group subsidiary), which is currently using the Boeing 737 Max 8. The airline reported that crews of this aircraft model revised airworthiness directives, issued after Lion Air’s Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed last year in Indonesia. "Additional technical briefings and simulation training on the operational specifics of the automatic flight speed restriction system and stall protection system operation are organized for crews," the aviation agency reported.
Boeing 737 Max 8 crash
On March 10, just minutes after taking off, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed killing 157 people onboard the Boeing 737 Max 8, including three Russians. The airliner had taken off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was on route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed around 60 km to the south-west of the Ethiopian capital (near the town of Bishoftu). It is unclear what caused the crash, emergency response groups managed to recover two cockpit recorders.
On October 29, Indonesian low coster, Lion Air flight JT610 was travelling from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang. The plane was a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet. Around 13 minutes after takeoff from the Indonesian capital, the aircraft plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people onboard. According to the data received from the first cockpit recorder, there were at least six malfunctions detected on the plane.