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Boeing grounds entire global fleet of MAX 737 8s and 9s after Ethiopia crash

Boeing has grounded its entire global fleet of 737 MAX 8s and 9s following Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia.

In a statement, the company said "out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft's safety" it had decided to temporarily suspend its entire fleet of 371 MAX aircraft.

Boeing said it had taken the decision after consulting the US Federal Aviation Administration and the National Safety Board.

The statement said: "We are supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution. Safety is a core value at Boeing for as long as we have been building airplanes and it always will be.

"There is no greater priority for our company and our industry.

"We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again."

It follows Donald Trump announcing on Wednesday that the US would be barring the aircraft from its airspace.

Mr Trump said: "We are going to be issuing an emergency order of prohibition to ground all flights of the 737 MAX 8 and the 737 MAX 9 and planes associated with that line."

The President said any Boeing currently in the air will go to its destination and then be grounded.

He said pilots and airlines have been notified, adding that the safety of the American people is of "paramount concern".

The President insisted the announcement was coordinated with aviation officials in Canada, US carriers and Boeing.

Mr Trump said: "Boeing is an incredible company. They are working very, very hard right now and hopefully they'll quickly come up with an answer."

The move follows the crash in Ethiopia last weekend in which 157 people died.

A number of countries, including the UK, had already barred the Boeing 737 MAX 8 from its airspace.

Ethiopian Airlines has said flight recorders from the jet that crashed will be sent to Europe for analysis.

Some aviation experts have warned that finding answers in the crash could take months.