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By Chinelo Obogo
Ethiopia’s Aviation Authority has lifted the three-year ban imposed on Boeing 737 Max following the crash of the aircraft regarded as the country’s worst-ever air disaster.
The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) said it lifted the ban after being satisfied with improvements in the planes’ design and the airlines’ pilot training programme.
The aircraft had been grounded worldwide in March 2019 when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed near Addis Ababa killing 149 passengers and eight crew members. It was the second of two fatal 737 MAX crashes within just five months.
Both crashes were attributed to a faulty automated flight-control system known as ‘MCAS’
It was Ethiopia’s devastating 737 MAX crash that confirmed to the world that there was a major, fatal flaw with the jet.
But three years later, Ethiopia and many other countries are now satisfied with the plane maker’s safety upgrades and the jet is returning to the skies.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared the planes to resume flights in November 2020, but ordered mandatory pilot training and modification of flight computer.
