Photo/Shetuwang

Mar. 11 (NBD) -- A Kenya-bound Ethiopian jetliner, taking off from Addis Ababa, crashed on March 10 shortly after leaving the country's capital, killing all the 157 people on board from at least 35 countries, including eight Chinese people.

As of press time, two Chinese passengers have been identified. They were employees of Aviation Industry Corporation of China and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, respectively. Both of them were post-graduates and born in the 1980s.

This accident came less than five months after the crash of Lion Air Flight 610, which occurred thirteen minutes after departure from Jakarta, renewing concerns about the model of aircraft involved in the accident, the Boeing 737 Max 8.

In response, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued a notice early on March 11, ordering domestic airlines to suspend commercial operation of the Boeing 737 Max 8 by 6:00 PM of the day. NBD noticed from Flightradar 24 no 737 Max flied in China on the day and a handful of air routes originally scheduled to use 737 Max shifted to 737-800.

The regulator said the grounding of the planes was "in line with our principle of zero tolerance for safety hazards and strict control of safety risks". CAAC said it would be contacting U.S. aviation authorities and Boeing Commercial Airplanes (Boeing) before restoring flights of the aircraft.

As a popular airplane, the Boeing 737 Max is an American narrow-body aircraft designed and produced by Boeing as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, succeeding the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG).

As of this January, Chinese enterprises have ordered a total of 180 Boeing 737 Max aircrafts, according to the website of the airplane maker. Specifically, 90 Boeing 737 Max 8s have been in service in China under 13 Chinese aviation companies as of the end of last year, including Air China, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, NBD learned from a domestic aviation information platform.

It is worth noting that besides China, Ethiopian Airlines also suspended operation of 737 Max 8 after the accident and an investigation is underway.

Chen Jianguo, a senior pilot-in-command, noted "aviation data show the plane was climbing and descending repeatedly between 7,000-8,600 feet and flying at a maximum ground speed of 383kts, which was obviously quicker than the normal flying speed," reported news outlet Beijing Business Today.

It is similar to the crashed 737 Max 8 in Indonesia last year. Both of them lost control in the air, but more data are needed to back the conclusion, Chen further explained.

Another pilot-in-command noted to Beijing Business Today that it is sorry to notice that Boeing didn't notify airlines about the related updates of the anti-stall system of 737 Max at an earlier date.

Industry insiders said people focused more on the management loopholes when analyzing the causes of the previous accident in Indonesia as Lion Air is a budget airline.

However, Ethiopian Airlines is a state-owned airline and the crashed 737 Max 8 was only in service for 4 months. This is the second crash involving the plane type within several months. Although the reasons for the crashes are still unknown, the safety of 737 Max 8 model should be paid attention to.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn