Boeing decided to postpone the 777X rollout that would take place on March 13. The reason was the 737 MAX 8 crash of Ethiopian Airlines on Sunday that killed 157 people.
The manufacturer will now focus on supporting its customer. “In light of this, we are postponing the 777X external debut on March 13 and the related media events on March 14. We will look for an opportunity to mark the new plane with the world in the near future. There is no change in the plane’s schedule / progress from this announcement.” Boeing explained to Flight Global.
Flight ET302 crashed six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa airport in similar circumstances to another accident with a 737 MAX in October last year with the airline Lion Air: in both cases, the plane crashed with great speed on the surface.
Like the Lion Air 737, the Ethiopian jet was brand new. It had been delivered in November 2018. According to Indonesian investigations, the aircraft’s angle of attack sensor showed an unrealistic situation which would have made the autopilot unnecessarily correct the position of the aircraft.
After this new crash with the advanced version of the 737, countries like China decided to keep the MAX models on the ground until the causes are explained.
