MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Aircraft construction and certification flaws led to the recent crashes of the Boeing 737 Max 8, Russian Deputy Transport Minister Alexander Yurchik said.

"Plenty of work will have to be done this year to establish a certification system in Russia. I would like to draw your attention that beefing up flight safety has been graphically demonstrated by the situation that is now unfolding with Boeing. It is becoming clearer that it is precisely the jet’s construction and certification flaws that resulted in the two crashes of the newest Boeing aircraft," the deputy minister said.

"This should be seen by us as a signal to form a high-quality system of aircraft certification," the official highlighted.

On March 10, Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max 8 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. The crash killed 157 people from 35 countries, including three Russian citizens.

In October 2018, that same jet model belonging to Indonesian Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta Airport, killing all 189 people onboard.

Soon after the crash in Ethiopia, many major airlines, including Russia’s S7, suspended Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 flights amid safety concerns.

US President Donald Trump ordered to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 passenger planes until further notice. The United States was the last country so far to suspend these flights.