US says 'no basis' to ground Boeing 737 MAX planes
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Washington: US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it saw "no basis" to ground Boeing 737 MAX planes, despite two recent similar crashes involving aircraft in the series.
"Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft. Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action," the statement said on Tuesday.
The statement came amid mounting safety concerns following two crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes in a short span of five months, Xinhua reported.
An Ethiopian Airlines plane en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya crashed on Sunday, killing all 157 people aboard. A Lion Air crash in October last year in Indonesia killed all 189 people on board.
A growing list of countries and airlines have terminated the operation of the model, while US lawmakers, experts and industry associations are calling for its grounding in the US.
According to the FAA, currently 74 Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes are operated by US carriers.
