What’s a Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane, when was the Ethiopia crash and who were the victims?
BOEING’S 737 Max 8 aircraft was thrust into the spotlight after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed just six minutes after takeoff.
It is the second time in less than six months that one of the planes plummeted to earth within minutes of taking off, after a new Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 flight went down over the Java Sea last October.
What is a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft?
It’s a passenger plane from the US manufacturer.
There are approximately 350 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in operation worldwide, being flown by 54 operators.
The UK banned all 737 Max aircraft from its airspace, not just max 8s, and the EU followed suit, banning all flights into, within or out of the zone on the Boeing Max aircraft.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued orders on March 14 for all the planes to be grounded.
Passengers across the globe were hit by airport delays and travel chaos after all Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded following the deadly Ethiopia plane crash.
American and Southwest Airlines immediately cancelled a number of flights after Donald Trump made the announcement on Wednesday.
Long queues were also seen at airports in Toronto and Vancouver after Air Canada scrambled to re-book passengers on to different flights.
And planes turned back in mid-air after the ban in the European air space.
Earlier this month, the family of a passenger killed in an Ethiopian Airlines crash earlier this month sued Boeing.
When was the Ethiopia crash?
An Ethiopian Airlines flight came down just after departing from an Addis Ababa airport on the morning of Sunday, March 10.
Flight ET302 took off at 8.38am before contact was lost at 8.44am.
The pilot had reported difficulties shortly after takeoff and asked to turn the plane around.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8s, which came down around Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, about 31 miles south of the capital city, was delivered to the airline about four months ago.
Who were the victims?
There were no survivors of the tragic Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The flight was carrying 149 passengers from 35 countries and eight crew members.
Nine British passengers were on the flight and lost their lives - two more than previously feared.
Campaigner Joanna Toole, 36, from Devon, and University of Plymouth graduate Sarah Auffret were both on their way to a UN conference in Nairobi.
It is understood Joanna was going to conduct a workshop with fishermen on behalf of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Her heartbroken dad revealed he was always terrified of her frequent flying for work.
Adrian Toole said: "Joanna was a very soft and loving person. Her work was not a job - it was her vocation."
Sam Pegram, 25, from Penwortham, Lancashire, who worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council was on his way to Nairobi.
The tragic toll includes Joseph Waithaka, 55, from Hull, and British-Somali nationals Sahra Hassan Said and her son Nasrudin Abdulkadir.
The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, confirmed the dead included eight Americans and Italians, 32 Kenyans, nine Ethiopians, eight Chinese, seven French, 18 Canadians, six Egyptians, five from the Netherlands, and four from India and Slovakia.
Three Austrians, Swedes and Russians were killed along with two Moroccans, Spaniards, Poles and Israelis.
Belgium, Ireland Indonesia, Somalia, Norway, Serbia, Togo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen each had one citizen on board.
The UN has said 21 of its staff members were among the dead, including employees of the World Food Programme (WFP), the Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
The World Food Programme said six of its employees were also on the flight.
Boeing has since issued changes to its control systems which were linked to two crashes in the past five months.