The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued instructions to stop any Boeing 737 Max 8 commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace.
A spokesperson said: “The UK Civil Aviation Authority has been closely monitoring the situation, however, as we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace.
“The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s safety directive will be in place until further notice.
“We remain in close contact with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and industry regulators globally.”
There are currently five 737 MAX aircraft registered and operational in the UK, by TUI Airways and Norwegian. A sixth is planned to commence operations later this week believed to be Ryanair which will start utilising the aircraft from London Stansted.
The move by the UK CAA comes after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed on Sunday morning in Ethiopia, killing all 157 on board and the crash of a Lion Air 737 Max 8 which crashed in October killing 189 on board.
The UK is the latest aviation regulator to suspend use of the 737 Max 8 as their counterparts in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia have also taken the same step.
The CAA said the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for certifying all Boeing 737 MAX models and it is the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that validates this certification across the EU, including the UK.
