Boeing Share Price Drops 10% Amid Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crash

09:03 GMT, 11 March 2019

Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement on 11 March that it had decided to suspend the operation of its Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes as a precaution after a company aircraft of the same model crashed in central Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board.

Sputnik

Shares of the Boeing aircraft manufacturing company fell 10% in preliminary trading before the opening of the main trading session on 11 March after one of the company's planes crashed in Ethiopia, according to trading data.

At 8:00 a.m. GMT, the company's shares had lost 9.12% in early trading, dropping to $384 per share. At the opening of preliminary trading on Monday, they fell 10%.

LIVE UPDATES: Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crashes en Route to Nairobi, 157 on Board

10 March 2019, 08:28 GMT

The crash involving Ethiopian Airlines' Flight ET 302/10 happened on the morning of 10 March, minutes after the Nairobi-bound plane took off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. All 157 people from over 30 countries who were on board the Boeing were killed. The cause of the accident is yet unknown. According to the airline, the plane had been well-maintained.

Just over four months have passed since another Boeing 737 MAX 8, operated by Indonesia's Lion Air, crashed into the Java Sea shortly after departing from the airport. The accident claimed the lives of 189 people. The black box retrieved after the crash revealed that the plane's sensors had been showing incorrect speed and altitude readings.