Transport Minister Marc Garneau is closing Canadian skies to the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, effectively grounding the planes over safety concerns arising from the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that killed everyone on board, including 18 Canadians.
The decision to ground the plane is a precautionary move that was made after a review of all the available evidence, Garneau told a news conference Wednesday in Ottawa that was twice delayed by what he called new incoming information.
“There are — and I hasten to say not conclusive — but there are similarities” between the Ethiopian Airlines flight profile and that of a Lion Air flight involving the same aircraft that crashed off the Indonesian coast in October, the minister said.
Those similarities, he said, “exceed a certain threshold in our minds with respect to the possible cause of what happened in Ethiopia. This is not conclusive, but it is something that points possibly in that direction, and at this point we feel that threshold has been crossed.
The “safety notice” means none of the aircraft can fly into, out of, or over Canada, he added: “I will not hesitate to take swift action should we discover any additional safety issues.”
While aviation experts warn against drawing conclusions until more information emerges from the crash investigation, numerous jurisdictions — including China, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union — have grounded the Max 8 or banned it from their airspace.
