On March 10, a Boeing 737-8 aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines crashed, the second accident involving the same aircraft type after the first one on October 29 of last year suffered by the Indonesian Lion Air.

Given the similarities between the two accidents that the aircraft involved in both crashes were newly delivered Boeing 737-8 and both happened during take-off, CAAC issued a notice at 9 am on March 11 requiring domestic airlines to suspend the commercial operations of Boeing 737-8 aircraft by 6 pm based on the management principle of zero tolerance to potential safety hazards and strict control of safety risks, in order to guarantee civil aviation flight safety in China.

Restart of Boeing 737-8 commercial operations will be notified after CAAC contacts FAA and Boeing and confirms effective measures are available to guarantee flight safety.