Korean Air won¡¯t fly Boeing 737 Max 8 jets unless safety is ensured

2019.03.14 15:51:03 | 2019.03.14 15:54:17

Boeing 737 Max 8 planeÀ̹ÌÁö È®´ë

Boeing 737 Max 8 plane

Korean Air, South Korea¡¯s largest airline, Thursday won¡¯t add Boeing 737 Max 8 jets to its fleet and will put off their deployment until it is completely sure of their safety.

The decision came after one of the model crashed in Ethiopia on March 10, just six months after a deadly crash involving the identical model in Indonesia, which raised suspicion over the aircraft¡¯s machine or software problems. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump joined China and Singapore to issue an emergency order to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.

In 2015, Korean Air contracted to purchase 50 of the model (20 optional) from Boeing over the next seven years, initially planned to fly six Boeing 737 Max 8 planes this year starting May. The airline said it is paying close attention to what Boeing is doing for aircraft safety to prepare for a next step.

On March 13, Eastar Jet, Korea`s only airline that operates the model, took its two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes out of services.

By Hwang Soon-min and Minu Kim

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