Photo/Shetuwang

The civil aviation regulator has temporarily stopped issuing airworthiness certificates to Boeing 737 Max 8s due to the plane's alleged uncertainty in flight safety.

The news comes after one of the planes, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed Mar 10 and killed all 157 people on board.

"The current investigation has not ruled out design flaws of the aircraft, and Boeing is revising its related systems,"the Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement on Mar 21.

The statement said that the administration has decided to suspend issuing airworthiness certificate to the jets.

The administration has sent experts to participate in investigations and will review the model's airworthiness based on alterations to the jet design.

It will resume accepting applications for the certificate after the aircraft design meets the requirements.

The tragedy follows the crash of a Lion Air Max 8 plane that went down over the Java Sea in October, killing 189 people.

"Considering the two accidents took place when newly delivered Boeing 737 Max 8s went down just minutes after taking off in less than five months, they have some degree of similarity," the administration said in its statement.

The administration grounded all Chinese Boeing 737 Max 8 jets on Mar 11.

Email: wenqiao@nbd.com.cn