Russia’s aviation authority on Thursday suspended flights by Boeing 737 MAX planes in the country’s airspace following Sunday’s deadly plane crash in Ethiopia, Fontanka.ru quoted the authority’s head, Alexander Neradko, as saying.
Russia’s S7 Airlines, the only company whose fleet currently includes the troubled Boeing model, said earlier this week it would ground its Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes starting from Wednesday. It said its fleet consisted of 96 planes, including two Boeing 737 MAX.
Boeing has grounded its entire global fleet of 737 Max aircraft after investigators uncovered new evidence at the scene of the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The American plane-maker said it would suspend all 371 of the aircraft currently in operation.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said fresh evidence, as well as newly refined satellite data, prompted the decision to temporarily ban the jets.
The FAA had previously held out while many countries banned the aircraft.
All 157 passengers and crew died in Sunday’s crash. Ethiopian Airlines said on Thursday that the black box flight recorders from the aircraft have been flown to Paris for analysis.
“An Ethiopian delegation led by Accident Investigation Bureau has flown the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder to Paris, France for investigation,” the airline wrote on Twitter.
