Canada to ban 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft from flying in Canadian airspace

Daniel Slim | AFP | Getty Images

An American Airlines Boeing 737 800 sits at a gate at Los Angeles International Airport on May 24, 2018.

The Canadian government said Wednesday it is temporarily grounding Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 planes and barring them from the country’s airspace, joining a list of dozens of nations to take the step after the second fatal crash of the planes in less than five months.

Canada’s decision made the United States a notable holdout for continuing to allow the Boeing planes to fly as investigators seek clues as to what brought down an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 shortly after takeoff on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday reiterated its stance on the plane, saying it saw no reason to order the jets be taken out of service.

Dozens of countries and airlines spanning China to Mexico to Europe have grounded the planes this week.

The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 came less than five months after a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 plunged into the Java Sea minutes into the flight, killing all 189 people on board.

Both planes were new, delivered to the carriers from Boeing just months before their doomed flights.

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