Breaking: U.S. Grounds Boeing 737 MAX Jets, Trump Says

The U.S. has grounded all Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 airliners, “effective immediately,” President Donald Trump said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

And in a statement Wednesday, Chicago-based Boeing said it has confidence in the planes but recommended to the FAA “the temporary suspension of operations” of its global fleet of 737 MAX jets, which is 371 planes.

After the recent crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 that killed 157 people, other countries had been grounding the aircraft, the AP said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had been monitoring the situation but had said it had no information to shut down the airplanes, the AP said. But Wednesday, Trump cited “new information” and announced the grounding, the news organization said. He also said planes in the air will continue to their destinations, then cannot fly for now, the AP said.

Boeing’s statement said the company continues to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 MAX:

“However, after consultation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and aviation authorities and its customers around the world, Boeing has determined — out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety — to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 737 MAX aircraft.