Boeing 737 Max planes turn back in MID-AIR as jets banned from all European air space over safety fears after Ethiopian Airlines crash

BOEING 737 Max 8 aircraft bound for Britain turned back in mid-air today - as the aircraft were banned from air space across the whole EU.

The UK's Civil Aviation Authority grounded all Max jets from 1pm over safety fears and then Europe's EASA agency followed with a continent-wide ban from 7pm.

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According to the tracking website, two Turkish Airlines planes turned for home as Britain and a host of other European countries announced a ban on the jet in the wake of Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines disaster.

One plane was on its way to Gatwick and the other to Birmingham when they were seen heading back.

Last night Sarah Tor, who was on the Turkish Airlines flight due to land at Birmingham but diverted back to Istanbul, revealed how the jet was changed at the last minute.

She said: "I speak Turkish and I overheard at the gate before we took off that they'd changed our plane last minute to this new Boeing.

"I'm a nervous flyer myself but when I saw that it was the new 737-800 max alarm bells were ringing.

"Everything was fine until about 2.5 hours in and I noticed the plane was turning.

"I looked at the map on the screen and saw it was showing we were going back — I thought there was a problem with the screen first but then the captain announced we were turning back because weather conditions.

"It was only when we landed back in Istanbul everyone found out it was due to the planes being grounded. I’m hoping to get back on Wednesday now."

The CAA said Turkish Airlines turned its planes back so they wouldn't get stuck in the UK, unable to take off again after a safety directive.

The airline itself said it was grounding its entire fleet "until the uncertainty affecting safety is cleared" and flights across Europe turned back.

Flightradar24 showed one of its flights on its way to Tel Aviv turning around and heading back to Stockholm while over Romania.

France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Ireland today became the latest countries to ban the planes from the air.

And this evening the European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced a Europe-wide ban on Max 8 and Max 9 jets that comes into force at 7pm.

Elsewhere in Europe, budget airline Norwegian announced that it was grounding its fleet 737 Max 8 planes.

In a day of travel chaos:

• UK announced the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in the early afternoon
• Turkish Airlines feared its planes would be stuck in the UK so hurriedly turned back flights
• Germany, France, Ireland and Austria also banned the troubled plane from their skies
• The growing list of countries that have also banned it includes China, Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia
• America said it would not be banning the plane and Boeing insisted it had "full confidence" in the jet
  

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German transport minister Andreas Scheuer said  “until all doubts are cleared up, I have ordered that German airspace be closed for the Boeing 737 Max with immediate effect".

The Irish Aviation Authority added: "The IAA's decision has been made taking account of the unprecedented loss of two Boeing 737 MAX in recent months."

The UK ban means none of the planes will be able to travel in and out of the UK or fly over its air space.

TUI, which has five of the planes, said it would use a different model to get passengers to their destinations.

Brian Strutton, general secretary of pilots' union Balpa, welcomed the ban saying: "Safety must come first.

"It is too early to know the cause of the latest crash and it is vital that air accident investigators carry out a thorough investigation to identify the cause so that measures to prevent future accidents can be put in place."

The 737 Max 8 has also been grounded in China, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Morocco, Mongolia, Malaysia, Poland and Oman.

But US authorities said they would not be taking any decision until they have seen further evidence.

Boeing itself said it had "full confidence" in the safety of the 737 MAX fleet.

The company said: "We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets.

"We'll continue to engage with them to ensure they have the information needed to have confidence in operating their fleets."

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MIDAIR DRAMA

Donald Trump weighed in by slamming modern plane design, claiming “complexity creates danger” and hinders pilots from making “split second decisions” to ensure their passengers’ safety.

He added: “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot".

A spokesperson for the CAA said: “Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the tragic accident in Ethiopia yesterday.

"There are currently five Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft registered and operational in the United Kingdom. A sixth aircraft is due to enter operation later this week.

"The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for certifying all Boeing 737 Max 8 models and it is the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that validates this certification across the EU, including the UK.

"The UK Civil Aviation Authority is liaising very closely with the EASA as the facts of this incident are established."

EASA said: "As a precautionary measure, EASA has published today an Airworthiness Directive, suspending all flight operations of all Boeing Model 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX aeroplanes in Europe.

"The accident investigation is led by the Ethiopian Authorities with the support of the National Transportation Safety Board, as the aircraft was designed and built in the United States.

"EASA has offered their assistance in supporting the accident investigation.

"EASA is continuously analysing the data as it becomes available. The accident investigation is currently ongoing, and it is too early to draw any conclusions as to the cause of the accident."

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TUI has the only five 737 Max 8 aircraft operated by a UK-based airline and was due to begin flying a sixth later this week.

They said in a statement: "Any customers due to fly home today on a 737 MAX 8 from their holiday will be flown back on another aircraft.

"Customers due to travel in the coming days will also travel on holiday as planned on other aircraft."

Norwegian Airlines has 18 in its fleet and serves London Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh.

They confirmed they had suspended flights of the aircraft in accordance with the CAA's instruction and apologised for the inconvenience to passengers.

PASSENGER FEARS

Worried holidaymakers had taken to social media to express their fears over using the planes to fly in and out of Britain.

Michael Bibby said: "TUI need to ground the death plane until Boeing provide a proper fix!";

While Lucy Barcoo asked TUI: "Can you please tell me which type of aircraft my flight home from Ibiza will be on please? Very concerned about the Boeing 737 Max."

Kenneth Bird tweeted: "Hi there @TUIUKcares @TUIUK @TUIGroup how come you haven’t grounded your Boeing 737 Max 8s? They fly over my house! Many other airlines have grounded theirs as a precautionary move."

James Bunker said: "@TUIUK we are due to fly to Fuerteventura the day after tomorrow with you guys but are a little worried about the recent news for your Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Can you confirm it’s 100% safe? @TUIUKcares #tui #".

Transport minister Baroness Sugg said: "The current position is more information is needed to warrant any grounding decision."

But former pilot and Labour peer Lord Tunnicliffe has urged the Government to immediately ground the plane following the crash.

He said: "In my day we had a rule - If it can go wrong it will go wrong. The industry seems to have lost sight of this rule. I believe everybody involved will be shown to be in dereliction of their duty."

PREVIOUS SAFETY FEARS

Sunday’s tragedy follows the Lion Air flight that went down over the Java Sea in late October, killing all 189 people on board.

Boeing has now revealed it was developing software following the Lion Air disaster that would make "an already safe aircraft even safer".

Following the Indonesia crash, questions were raised over the safety of the planes after investigators said there were problems with its airspeed indicator and angle of attack (AoA) sensors.

This led to fears the jets could have a fault that causes them to nose-dive.

A warning was sent to operators about the sensor problem after it emerged the Lion air flight suffered issues the day before the crash.

But the US Federal Aviation Administration has told airlines it believes Boeing's 737 Max 8 model to be airworthy.

BEST-SELLING JET

A latest version of the best-selling commercial jet in history, the Boeing 737 Max 8 is operated by scores of airlines around the world - including in the UK.

There are currently 350 in service with airlines around the world - but thousands more are on order.

The model is one of four varieties of 737 Max aircraft produced by the US aerospace giant.

Boeing says it has taken more than 4,700 orders for the single-aisle family of planes which can carry up to 230 passengers.

In Britain, holiday operator Tui Airways has ordered 32 Max aircraft as part of a major fleet overhaul and took delivery of its first Max 8 in December.

Tui was the first UK-registered airline to receive one of the new Boeing aircraft and planned to roll out its orders over the next five years.

Based at Manchester Airport, the planes are due to ferry passengers to a range of holiday destinations from the north-west.

The carrier's German parent company is reported to have bought 54 Max 8s.

Other airlines in Europe to use the Max aircraft include Air Italy, Lot Polish Airlines and Norwegian.

HOW THE HORROR UNFOLDED

The flight came down just after departing Addis Ababa carrying 149 passengers from 35 countries and eight crew members.

Among those who died were nine British citizens, eight Americans and Italians, 32 Kenyans, nine Ethiopians, eight Chinese, seven French, 18 Canadians, one Irish, six Egyptians, five from the Netherlands, and four from India and Slovakia.

The pilot, who had an "excellent flying record", had reported difficulties and asked to turn back, adding the plane had "no known technical problems".

Senior captain Yared Getachew had a "commendable performance" having completed more than 8,000 hours in the air, an Ethiopian Airlines spokesman said.

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The plane had flown from Johannesburg to Addis earlier on Sunday morning, undergoing "rigorous" testing on February 4, the airline said.

A horrified witness said it swerved and dipped and was belching smoke from the rear before it crashed.

He also said the Boeing 737 Max 8 was making a strange noise before hitting the ground with a "large boom" and a shower of flaming luggage.

Crash investigators yesterday recovered the black box flight recorder from a crater the size of a basketball court.

The harrowing final seconds of flight ET302 were revealed by flight radar data, which showed it repeatedly climbed, fell and climbed again soon after takeoff

Aviation experts said this ";unstable vertical speed" is extremely unusual and planes usually climb steadily.

Crash investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board will arrive today to help piece together what went wrong, the US ambassador to Ethiopia said.

The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines calls itself Africa's largest carrier and has ambitions of becoming the gateway to the continent.

Its last major crash was in January 2010, when a flight from Beirut went down shortly after take-off.

WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?

The British death toll was today revised from seven to at least nine.

The Foreign Office said: "Our staff at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa are continuing to work with the relevant authorities in Ethiopia to obtain further information.
"We extend our deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones and those affected by this tragic event."

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Among the British victims are Sam Pegram, 25, from Penwortham, Lancashire, who worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council and was on his way to Nairobi.

Many of the 149 passengers were heading to a United Nations environment conference in Nairobi, including animal expert Joanna Toole, 36, from Devon.

Polar tourism expert Sarah Auffret, who had dual British and French nationality, and dad Joseph Waithaka, 55, from Hull, also died.

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