Oman suspends Boeing 737 MAX flights after Ethiopia tragedy

Oman on Tuesday suspended takeoffs and landings by Boeing 737 MAX planes at its airports, the sultanate's aviation authority said, making it the latest country to take action against the aviation giant after a deadly crash in Ethiopia.

The Public Authority for Civil Aviation "is temporarily suspending operations of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of all Omani airports until further notice," it said in a statement on Twitter. 

More than 150 people, including 149 passengers and eight crew members, were killed after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on Sunday morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.

The plane took off at 8:38 am (0638 GMT) from Bole International Airport and "lost contact" six minutes later near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres (37 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa by road.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office tweeted it "would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning."

Ethiopian Airlines said it would send staff to the accident scene to "do everything possible to assist the emergency services."

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