Second 737 Max crash in months raises more questions

AMID ongoing investigations, it is too early to connect the tragic Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes, both of which involved Boeing's Max 737 8 aircraft.

But the similarities around the two crashes are bound to spark concern among travellers and cast a pall over Boeing's Max programme, which has thousands of planes on order, including from regional carriers SilkAir, Malindo Air and Lion Air.

On Sunday, Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 plummeted within minutes of takeoff, claiming 157 lives. ET302 had reportedly sought to return to Addis Ababa after the pilot - who had some 8,000 flight hours under his belt - reported technical problems.

This comes barely five months after another fatal crash also involving Boeing's narrow-body 737 Max, which saw Lion Air flight JT610 losing contact with ground control 13 minutes after takeoff and plunging into the sea off Java, killing 189 people. The incident in October last year also pushed Lion Air's, and Indonesia's, aviation safety record into the spotlight, given that the budget carrier has experien…