CAL extends sympathy after tragic Ethiopian plane crash, reveals own Boeing stock and safety checks


Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has assured customers that it will ‘put the safety of its passengers, crew and operations first’ in the wake of Sunday’s tragic Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in Addis Ababa, which left all 157 passengers dead.

The fatal crash was the second in five months involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, which has been in service since 2017 with 5,000 orders worldwide. Last October, a Lion Air flight crashed off the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and killed all 189 persons onboard.

Photo: The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
(Copyright Aviatix Models)

CAL, in a press release today, stated that it uses the Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft at present. The national carrier extended ‘heartfelt sympathy to the families and loved ones of the passengers and employees impacted by Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302’.

However, a Trinidad Express report today stated that CAL has already purchased 12 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, which should begin arriving later this year. Click HERE to read Express story.

Caribbean Airlines statement:

Caribbean Airlines extends heartfelt sympathy to the families and loved ones of the passengers and employees impacted by Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302.

This accident has raised speculative concern re: the Boeing Max 8 aircraft. However, investigations by the relevant authorities are in progress and the cause of this accident remains undetermined at this time.

We understand that investigations by the relevant authorities are in progress and the cause of this accident remains undeterred at this time.

The airline industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in the world and there are rigorous processes and regulatory procedures to follow before any aircraft is brought into service. Caribbean Airlines will incorporate the procedural and training elements necessary to comply with all regulations and instructions before any new aircraft is introduced to its fleet.

Caribbean Airlines currently does not have the Boeing Max 8 aircraft as part of its fleet. The airline uses the Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft. Caribbean Airlines stands by its commitment to put the safety of its passengers, crew and operations first.

Photo: A Caribbean Airlines plane prepares to land.
(Copyright Lyndon Thorley/Planespotters.net)

Editor’s Note: Click HERE for more details on CAL’s purchase of a dozen Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

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13 comments

  1. They don’t use the model that crashed that is on order

  2. I hope that Boeing clarifies soon because it appears that there’s a difference between 737 MAX 8 and 737 NG. Some news and social media sites seem to be using the names interchangeably. I have flown on many flights where the 737 NG was the equipment and this goes back a few years. Whereas the MAX8 is a new aircraft

    https://youtu.be/dg3Azd9dGYc

  3. Lasana Liburd CAL must shelve this purchase until the results of the investigation are available and until this FAA-mandated upgrade is completed:

    The FAA expects to mandate design changes to some systems and signaling on board by April 2019.

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    BUSINESS NEWS

    FAA says Boeing 737 MAX planes are still airworthy, expects to mandate design changes by April

    PUBLISHED MON, MAR 11 2019 • 3:34 PM EDT UPDATED MOMENTS AGO

    Leslie Josephs@LESLIEJOSEPHS

    KEY POINTS

    The Federal Aviation Administration tells international airlines that Boeing 737 MAX planes remain airworthy.

    The FAA expects to mandate design changes to some systems and signaling on board by April.

    The notice comes a day after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed, killing all 157 people aboard.

    It was the second deadly crash of the popular planes in less than five months.

    A Boeing 737 Max gives a display during the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire. (Photo by Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)

    Andrew Matthews – PA Images | PA Images | Getty Images

    The Boeing 737 MAX, the type of plane involved in a deadly crash in Ethiopia over the weekend, is still airworthy, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday, giving a vote of confidence to the type of jet that has been involved in two deadly crashes since October.
    Aviation officials in China and Indonesia ordered domestic airlines to ground their fleets of the popular Boeing single-aisle planes after the deadly crash Sunday of one operated by Ethiopian Airlines. The 149 passengers and eight crew members on board were killed when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.

    The incident was the second deadly crash of the new Boeing planes in less than five months. A Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged into the Java Sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, in October, killing all 189 people on board.

    WATCH NOW

    VIDEO04:03

    Former Boeing pilot on 737-MAX safety

    “External reports are drawing similarities between this accident and the Lion Air Flight 610 accident on October 29, 2018,” the FAA said in its notice. “However, this investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions.”

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    The popular planes are a key revenue driver for Boeing, whose commercial airplane business brought in nearly 60 percent of its more than $100 billion in revenue last year.
    U.S. airlines on Monday sought to calm concerns from travelers that the planes are safe.
    While it is highly unusual to have two fatal crashes of new aircraft so close together, analysts have cautioned that it is too early to know the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines crash or whether it is at all linked to the crash of the Lion Air flight last year.

    The crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in October drew scrutiny of the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, known as MCAS, which is included on the new planes and a system that officials said they believed pushed the nose of the plane down repeatedly.
    A nose-down position is the way to recover from a stall but can be catastrophic if the plane signals it is in a stall when it is not. Boeing issued a safety bulletin to pilots in November directing them how to handle if the nose of the plane is automatically pushed down.
    The FAA said in its notice on Monday that it expects to mandate design enhancements to the automated system and signaling on board the Boeing planes by April 2019. Boeing is planning to update training requirements and manuals along with those changes, the FAA said.
    Boeing confirmed that it was planning to changes to flight-control software for the planes’ MCAS system and said the changes are “designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.”
    The FAA’s notice applied to both the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and the larger MAX 9 variant. There are 74 of these aircraft in U.S. fleets and 374 worldwide, the agency said.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/11/faa-boeing-737-max-planes-are-still-airworthy.html

    WATCH: Boeing should voluntarily ground 737 Max jets

  4. That does not really address the fleet of 737 MAX that will be delivered end of the year … what are they doing given that several airlines have grounded these planes?

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