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markpaskewitz-posts · 3 years

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Making Sense of EU Current Events: How the European Union Got to Where It Is Today

Most Americans feel a sense of closeness with Europeans. We are in sync culturally. We have shared historical experiences. We love many of the same cars, luxury products, and tech gadgets. But do Americans really understand Europe?

For years, we have read about the Common Market, the European Union, the Euro – but do many Americans understand why these were formed, how they developed and what they were designed to do? The news is full of stories about Brexit, populism, and a backlash against migrants, but what is the overall context behind these movements and sentiments? How do these issues fit into the overall picture of Europe in the year 2021?

As a new writer, my humble wish is to use this column to create a space that explores the threads that interweave and make Europe such a fascinating place. Taken separately, there are many pieces of the past and present that are interesting. As we explore more and more pieces, it is my hope that they can become building blocks to create a better understanding of Europe as we find it today.

To start down this journey, it is necessary to be familiar with some key milestones in the life of the EU. In many ways, these tell the story of how Europe rose from the ashes of World War II and reached its current state - with all of its promises and challenges. To be able to understand the present, we need to take a few minutes to visit the recent past: Why was the European Union formed and how did it evolve? After understanding a few fundamental points, we can turn our attention with greater clarity to the challenges that faced by Europe and the European Union as it looks to the future.

For those of us in later generations, it is hard to imagine the magnitude of the problems that Europe faced in 1945. In the aftermath of the most destructive war that mankind had ever seen - millions dead and injured, factories and jobs wiped out, widespread economic collapse and hunger, mass homelessness. There was also the new reality of geopolitical competition between the West and the Communist East. Overall, the nations and the people of Europe were traumatized. They found themselves placed between a past that had gone down in flames and an uncertain future.

Out of this landscape of destruction and chaos, there emerged a group of leaders who had a vision for the future. They came from France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States. They dreamed of a Europe secured against the threat of another war and harmonious economically and politically. Americans showed leadership in the creation of NATO and generosity in the Marshall Plan, thereby offering protection to Europe and the financing needed to get recovery underway. For their part, the European leaders of the day planted seeds in the form of new institutions that ushered in the promise of a new political and economic order.

The seeds grew over time to become the European Union. Thanks to the creative vision of this generation of European and American leaders, the framework emerged for a Europe that could build on the foundation and yield more than 70 years of relative stability and prosperity. The founding institutions of this post-war Europe are among the greatest political achievements in modern history.

The Expanding Influence of the EU in the Lives of Member States and Citizens

It is useful to take a step back and review some of the key treaties and agreements that have created the Europe of today. They tell the story of deepening integration of the continent and the expanding role of the central European governing bodies.

MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Treaty of Paris (1951)

Founding members: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg

Set up a central body to regulate industries and established a common market for coal and steel.

It set the template for future European Commision, European Parliament, and European Court of Justice.

French Prime Minister Robert Schumann and his German counterpart, Konrad Adenauer, were drivers behind this treaty.

Politically, the immediate goal was to make any future war between France and Germany “unthinkable”. Longer term, it was hoped that the ECSC would mark the birth of a future united Europe.

Treaty of Rome (1957)

Established the European Economic Community. Set up a customs union and mapped out progressive reduction of custom duties.

Proposed the concept of a single market for goods, labor, services and capital.

Created the European Commission to implement a Common Agricultural Policy, Common Transport Policy, and European Social Fund.

Schengen Agreement (1985)

Largely abolished internal border checks between members, allowing free movement of people across borders. Set up common visa policy.

Single European Act (1986)

Committed members to a timeline for economic merger (including a single currency) and common foreign and domestic policies.

It called for increased legislative powers for the European Parliament and streamlined the process for the passing of laws.

Maastricht Treaty (1992)

Officially created the “European Union”; provided common citizenship and passports

Allowed citizens to reside in any member state.

Established European Central Bank, paving the way for a single European currency; included provision to apply inflation and public debt level requirements to future applicants.

Mapped out closer cooperation between police forces and courts in criminal cases.

Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)

Important changes to Maastricht agreement: members agree to transfer powers from national governments to European Parliament

Large impact on immigration, civil and criminal laws.

Treaty of Lisbon (2007)

Amends Treaty of Rome and Maastricht; relates to internal decision making processes (e.g. decisions by qualified majority rather than unanimous vote)

Created formal positions for President of the European Council and representative for Foreign Affairs.

With each of these agreements, the affairs of the member nation-states became more and more intertwined. Regulations were streamlined and made uniform. Goods and services could be traded across national boundaries more easily and cheaply. Citizens became able to travel freely without passports throughout large parts of the region. Changes in the labor rules created a continent-wide labor market. All in all, these new arrangements changed the face of Europe and the lives of many of its people.

Expanding Boundaries of the EU

While the dramatic alterations were underway, the European community itself was expanding.

Original members: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg

1973: United Kingdom (exited 2020), Denmark, Ireland

1981: Greece

1986: Spain, Portugal

1995: Austria, Sweden, Finland

2004: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus

2007: Bulgaria, Romania

2013: Croatia

A Time of Dramatic Changes for the Europe and the European Union

As all of this was happening, there were fundamental policy shifts and historical waves at play as well. Beginning in the 1970s, richer countries began to subsidize poorer members with transfer payments. These allowed for more job creation and new infrastructure in the poor nations of southern Europe. The European Parliament was formed and, starting in 1979, began to have direct elections of its members. The period saw the development of an environmental movement in the west and, in the east, the Polish labor union began to put pressure on the Communist government. History reached a climax with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, followed by Russia itself. There then was an emphasis on integrating these former members of the Warsaw Pact into the European community, culminating in a massive enlargement of the European Union in the first decade of the 21st-century.

Where Does the EU Go From Here?

The original concept of the European Union was visionary and the resulting structures changed the face of Europe. Europe has become prosperous and the degree of personal freedom and wealth is impressive. If this is so, then why do things appear to have gotten off track? Why is there so much ‘Euro-scepticism”, which reached a peak with Brexit? Indeed, as the role of the EU in the lives of citizens has become so much deeper, the level of resentment directed at the bureaucrats in Brussels has grown. Also, with the dramatically expanded number of member countries, new political, economic and cultural fissures have opened. The desire to be part of the EU has dissipated as the news has become full of reports on the constant squabbling over procedures, divergent views over the degree of economic and financial integration, and immigration policies. The outcome of the next chapter of the story of Europe will depend on how well its leaders navigate these tricky questions and whether the people of today hold on to the vision of freedom and liberty that guided earlier generations.

With this brief historical introduction out of the way, your humble columnist will begin to use this “About Europe” space to explore some of the issues and challenges facing Europe today.

#EuropeCurrentEvents

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zoomology · 7 years

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For some time now, we’ve been meaning to visit the remnant population of native red squirrels on Brownsea Island here in England. Last week, the opportunity finally arrived when a number of bat surveys came up in Poole, the town’s harbour in which Brownsea Island is located.

Getting to Brownsea Island

The Sandbanks ferry port terminal

The Sandbanks ferry port terminal – our ferry pulling in

Arrival at Brownsea Island – National Trust building ahead

During the day between these dawn and dusk surveys, Tom and I jumped on the ferry and took the 15 minute ride from the Sandbanks port to the island. If you plan on visiting, you will need cash for the ferry. You can use card for the the pay-and-display parking near the ferry, and for the National Trust tariff that is paid once on the island. For prices and how to get to the ports, click here.

The Search for Red Squirrels

The National Trust: Brownsea Island Map

Once we arrived on the island, our search began. We followed the various tracks around the island, but our hunt seemed to be in vain. The closest we came to seeing the red squirrels was indirect evidence of their presence: a drey nestled in the branch of a tree, nest boxes, cones that squirrels had been gnawing at…

A squirrel drey or ‘nest’

Nest box attached to a tree

Cone eaten by a red squirrel on the left vs. uneaten cone on the right

We searched high and low. We even asked some passers-by if they had encountered any red squirrels, and they answered that after a day of walking around they still had not seen any. Feeling a little disheartened, we started walking back in the direction of the ferry.

Emma peering up into the trees hoping to see a red squirrel

With the wetland on our left and the woodland on our right, we wandered slowly along the path. Both of our gazes were focused on the woodland which we believed would be prime habitat for the squirrels. Movement in the wetland area suddenly caught my attention… Our first red squirrel sighting right where we least expected it!

Our First Red Squirrel Sighting

We followed the movement up and down the trees, across the marshy ground, the squirrel never halting for long. We lost sight of it, and we hadn’t even manged to get one blurry photograph. Luckily for us, our second opportunity arose a few minutes later when Tom spotted a red squirrel curled up, apparently napping, on a branch overhanging the wetland.

Tom zooming in on a red squirrel

Tom trained his lens on the squirrel and got this first set of shots once it woke from its rest. I’m sure you can imagine how excited we were.

During this encounter, a number of other people joined to watch. We all shared the locations of our sightings. This really is the best way to find out where to look! Group consensus was that the best area for squirrel sightings was the wooded area near the church (see the above map). We headed over towards the church, a five minute walk from our location alongside the wetland.

The wooded area near the church (seen in background)

Advice well heeded! In the half-an-hour we had left before the final ferry departed, we must have seen at least five individual red squirrels in this area. Our day of squirrel-spotting had turned into a very successful one.

A Few Quick Red Squirrel Facts

To round off this post, I wanted to leave you with a few red squirrel facts and numbers that we found interesting (and quite worrying!)

The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is found in many places throughout Eurasia

In Great Britain, Italy and Ireland, numbers have decreased drastically in recent years

This decline is associated with the introduction by humans of the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) from North America, and habitat loss

There are approximately 138,000 red squirrels throughout the UK vs. approximately 2.5 million grey squirrels

Of the red squirrel population, it is estimated that approximately 120,000 are in Scotland, 3,000 in Wales and 15,000 in England (~200 on Brownsea Island)

Without conservation the species could be completely wiped out from Britain by 2030

“What did you just say?!”

Red Squirrel Conservation

Red squirrel conservation is essential for the survival of the species in Britain. To see what is being done to conserve the species in Britain, and what you can do to help, check out a few of the following websites:

The Dorset Wildlife Trust – Adopt a red squirrel to help safeguard the future of red squirrels on Brownsea Island

The Wildlife Trusts – Red Squirrel Conservation – Key Facts & FAQ

Red Squirrels Northern England (RSNE) – A red squirrel conservation partnership working right across northern England

Red Squirrels United – The biggest ever partnership of academics, practitioners and volunteers working together on a scientifically robust programme of red squirrel conservation

Until Next Time!

Please feel free to ask us any questions in the comments below. Until then, here are a few last snaps of a red squirrel with their peacock companion. 🙂

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References and Further Reading

Brownsea Island Ferries Website http://www.brownseaislandferries.com/ (Retrieved 19 September, 2017)

The National Trust Website – Brownsea Island https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/brownsea-island (Retrieved 19 September, 2017)

The National Trust Website – Top Places to Spot Red Squirrels – https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lists/top-places-to-spot-red-squirrels (Retrieved 19 September, 2017)

Wikipedia Website – Eurasian Red Squirrel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_squirrel (Retrieved 19 September, 2017)

Searching for #RedSquirrels on #BrownseaIsland! #Sciurusvulgaris #DorsetWildlifeTrust #UK For some time now, we've been meaning to visit the remnant population of native red squirrels on Brownsea Island here in England.

#Brownsea Island #Dorset #Ecology #England #Guide #Mammal #Native #Red Squirrel #Rodent #Sciurus vulgaris #Squirrel #Travel #UK #Wildlife #Zoology

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tumblunni · 7 years

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also i discovered that there exists a ‘hashtag wh/ite genoc/ide’ via a goddamn game grumps video comment section and hooo lordy i guess thats a good name for your fuckin racist bullshit movement cos seeing you guys makes me kinda wish i could push a button and kill myself just to wipe you off the map too that good ol saturday mornin feeling sometimes it feels like white culture is so fucking irrecoverably disgusting that the only solution really would be to just beam us all off with the aliens and let someone else handle the ruins of our shit government seriously i know most of this news is america centric but i CANT FUCKIN STAND how also britain’s history is completely defined by unjust genocide against everyone forever and I spent my childhood being taught all this shit in history class as if we were somehow the good guys and EVEN AGAINST EACH OTHER I live in wales, and our history is just how the whole welsh nationality was fuckin wiped out in the early early establishing days of britain and we were practically just ‘property’ of england until relatively recently. And our language is near dead, we all just speak english and like.. again, its only recently that there’s been a big push for schools to have mandatory welsh lessons, and for it to be put on billingual road signs and stuff. And even compared to scotland and ireland our local mythology is EVEN MORE completely lost to history, cos we were fuckin banned from practising anything but christianity and speaking anything but english. Most of what we have left is these weird half christianized tales where satan or saint peter or something will suddenly appear halfway through a story and act like someone’s OOC misunderstanding of wtf this character is supposed to be like... And like.. god.. yeah.. in more recent history we have.. well, how irish people used to be treated like a ‘lesser race’ and the whole fuckin potato famine thing which literally WAS NOT A FAMINE. It was a situation where these lower class people were literally growing food DURING this famine, and still starving because all that food was being taken by england. And yes irish people were literally sold as slaves too, they’re always used as the ur-example of white people being able to be equally as fuckin racist against mere nationality lines, instead of race... God I feel like britain is just a stagnant turd pile of racist bitches that’re all like ‘oh no we’re running out of minorities to hate, lets arbitrarily make up a new one’. Defining other white countries as a race and submitting them to the same racism is very much not a thing of the past! its still happening nowadays with polish people, greek people, romani, irish travellers, and any time any refugees are fleeing from any country ever, that country will suddenly magically become a race and we suddenly hate them, like how fucking DARE they be suffering and asking for our help.. God I just fucking hate my country so much sometimes.

#sorry again...#overly rambley post...#i especially hate being welsh cos its like.. i dont even feel like i really identify with those ancient historical welsh people #nowadays we're just a bunch of inbred english stock that's occupying the wreckage of our former nationality #it sucks to say but i wonder if maybe we shouldnt even be classified as a country anymore #we basically ARE just an england colony #i have no way of knowing if my ancestry is even remotely connected to any of the celtic cultures that got crushed back then #so i'm stuck like..feeling sad about hearing that history but also feeling like im responsible for it i guess #at best my dna is gonna be half the victims and half the british folks who did it to them #and now wales is a british country and just GOD it fuckin hurts to read that history because #its like.. fuck.. we were literally the victims of britain's imperialist bullshit and now we're perptuating it against #anyone of a different race to us #and schools dont even fuckin teach actual welsh history about this stuff its all english royalty and shit...#i didnt even know about the irish potato famine or the northern ireland religious separation or anything until i left school #its like JESUS FUCK white people are such demons that we dont just hate on people with a different skintone and #we dont just hate on people from a different country #we even hate on each other within our own nation and LITERALLY FUCKIN KEPT THEM AS SLAVES ONCE #goddddddddddddd

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ericfruits · 5 years

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Rising sea levels threaten Britain’s shores

print-edition icon Print edition | Britain

Nov 1st 2018 | NEWTON ABBOT

LOCOMOTIVES HAVE plied the Dawlish railway seawall, which hugs Devon’s beaches between Exeter and Newton Abbot, since 1846. Passengers are treated to magnificent views of the English Channel—and occasionally to a frisson, when rough seas break on the concrete groynes and envelop oncoming trains in sea spray. If, that is, the trains are running, which increasingly they are not. Service was suspended for a day in mid-October after storm Callum wrecked a culvert. In 2014 the line closed for two months to repair storm damage.

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Such disruptions are likely to become more common. A report published on October 26th by the Committee on Climate Change, which advises the government, warns that rising waters pose a growing threat to England’s shores. They have edged up by 15cm (six inches) since 1900 and could rise by another 50-80cm by the end of the century, as a result of man-made global warming. Unlike Kiribati or other atoll nations, the sceptred isle would not be wiped off the map. But stretches of its coastline would be.

Besides 436km (271 miles) of railway, the authors identify 930km of main roads, 187,000 hectares of farmland and as many as 520,000 properties already exposed to a one-in-200 chance of coastal flooding each year. If Earth warms by another 1°C, which the world’s current policies all but guarantee, these figures could double, affecting 1.1m Britons. The committee puts the damage to properties alone at £370m ($470m) a year by 2080.

England appears unprepared (the report did not consider Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which pursue their own policies). Councils rely on outdated planning guidelines. Homeowners in safe areas cross-subsidise the insurance of those in risky ones through Flood Re, a government-run scheme. The property market reflects clifftop villas’ breathtaking views rather than their hair-raising risk of tumbling into the sea.

Building seawalls and other defences to protect important stretches of shoreline from rising tides could cost £6.4bn-9.2bn. Big cities like Liverpool or Newcastle can count on help when the water comes. But a tenth of the 1,600km of endangered coast may prove too uneconomical to safeguard, according to the report. Its authors will not say where; that is up to the government. But imperilled residents surely deserve to know.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Britannia ruled by waves"

#IFTTT #Feedly

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gyrlversion · 5 years

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Boeing jet forced to turn around MID-AIR after UK bans 737 MAX planes

Two Boeing jets heading for Britain have turned around mid-air after the UK barred 737 Max planes from its airspace following the Ethiopia disaster, it has emerged.

British aviation chiefs made the decision after an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft crashed on Sunday killing all 157 on board – the second disaster involving the Max 8 model in under five months.

As the restrictions were announced this afternoon, two Turkish Airlines aircraft – one bound for Gatwick and the other to Birmingham – turned back while flying over Europe.

Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the carrier turned its planes back so they would not get stuck in the UK when the ban came into force at 1pm. The airline said it was grounding all 12 Boeing Max planes in its fleet until further notice.

Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and Iceland all followed suit after Britain’s decision today, becoming the latest in a series of countries and airlines to ground their fleets of Boeing’s latest 737 aircraft.

Tui Airways has the only five Max 8 aircraft operated by a UK-based airline, and confirmed the planes have been grounded following the CAA’s decision.

Norwegian Air, the other major operator of Max 8s in the UK, confirmed they too had suspended flights with the jets following a recommendation from European aviation authorities.

It comes as pressure continues to mount on Boeing after more airlines and countries grounded their fleets of 737 Max 8 jets and as shares in the firm crashed for the second time in two days with $20 billion wiped off the firm’s value.

Boeing jets heading for Britain have turned around mid-air after the UK barred 737 Max planes from its airspace following the Ethiopia disaster, it has emerged. two Turkish Airlines aircraft – one bound for Gatwick and the other to Birmingham – turned back while flying over Europe

Turkish Airlines has since grounded all 12 Boeing Max planes in its fleet until further notice

According to Airlive, flight TUI G-TUMB was the last Boeing 737 Max to land in the UK before the restrictions came into place this afternoon. It is pictured on its final approach to Manchester

Pressure is mounting on Boeing after more airlines and countries grounded their fleets of 737 Max 8 jets in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines disaster. Pictured: Emergency crews at the scene of the crash last night

Flight ET302 was seen ‘swerving and dipping’ before crashing down minutes from take off from Addis Ababa on Sunday morning, killing all 157 on board including nine Britons

British death toll rises to nine as Foreign Office confirms mother and son were also killed

Nine Britons were killed in the Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed yesterday morning – two more than was feared.

The Foreign Office revised up the number of British victims today after discovering that some of them had dual nationality.

Last night it emerged that British-Somali passengers Sarah Hassan Said and Nasrudin Abdulakir were killed when the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet came down within minutes of take-off from Addis Ababa on Sunday.

Another British victim was named yesterday as Sam Pegram, a 25-year-old aid worker who grew up in Lancashire.

Mr Pegram’s old secondary school, Penwortham Priory Academy, confirmed their old pupil’s death and said he was remembered ‘with great fondness’.

In addition to UN worker Joanna Toole, polar expert Sarah Auffet and Joseph Waithaka from Hull, the latest news means that six out of nine British victims have now been named.

Briton Joanna Toole (left) and French-British dual national Sarah Auffret (right) have been named among victims of the air disaster in Ethiopia

Irishman Michael Ryan (pictured left), who worked for the UN’s World Food Programme, and Kenyan-British dual national Joseph Waithaka (right) – who used to live in Hull – were also among the 149 passengers killed

Nasrudin Abdulkadir and his mother Sarah Hassan Said, both Somali-British nationals, died on the doomed plane, the FCO confirmed on Monday evening

Sam Pegram, pictured, a 25-year-old aid worker was named on Monday as another British victim of the Ethiopian air disaster

At least 12 passengers, including Ms Toole, from Exmouth, Devon, were travelling to Nairobi for a UN environment gathering.

Spanish national Pilar Martinez Docampo, who died in the crash, was a London-based aid worker who was travelling to Kenya to teach children English

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that a London-based aid worker who was travelling to Nairobi to teach children English was one of the 157 killed in the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy.

Spanish national Pilar Martinez Docampo, 32, had reportedly been living in London for seven years.

Docampo, from the seaside resort of Cangas do Morrazo in the Spanish province of Pontevedra, had been travelling and working for an unnamed NGO for the first time in Ethiopia.

Local media report Docampo had held several jobs in London after moving there seven years ago to look for work.

Her family told reporters that she had been travelling to Nairobi from Ethiopia to teach English to children as part of her work for the NGO.

She was excited about the trip and was reportedly planning to fly to Mozambique after her stay in Nairobi to teach English as well.

The local government in her hometown have announced there will be three days of mourning for her.

Boeing’s stock fell 3.2 to $387.10 minutes after the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange today, adding to a 5 per cent decline on Monday.

Today India’s Jet Airways joined airlines in Mexico, Ethiopia, Brazil and South Africa in resolving to keep their Max 8s in hangers pending safety reviews.

Australia and South Korea have suspended 737 MAX aircraft operations while Singapore issued the same orders at its busy Changi airport. Indonesia grounded its fleets and Vietnam said it would not grant licences for the jet until the cause of Sunday’s crash was determined.

In Britain, a spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority said: ‘As we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace.

‘The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s safety directive will be in place until further notice.

‘We remain in close contact with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and industry regulators globally.’

As the CAA made is announcement today, aircraft tracking maps posted by Flightradar24 showed two Britain-bound Turkish Airlines jets – both 737 Max 8 models – turning back while over mainland Europe.

The carrier later said it was grounding all Boeing 737 Max aircraft in its fleet until further notice ‘uncertainty affecting safety is cleared.’ He added that passenger safety was the company’s priority.

Meanwhile a TUI Airways spokesperson said: ‘TUI Airways can confirm that all 737 MAX 8 aircraft currently operating in the UK have been grounded following the decision from the UK regulatory authorities today.

‘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.

India’s Jet Airways this morning joined airlines in China, Mexico, Ethiopia, Brazil and South Africa in resolving to keep their Max 8s in hangers pending safety reviews. Pictured: A SilkAir plane at Changi Airport after Singapore suspended operations for all Boeing 737 Max 8s at the busy terminal

Three Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes from Shanghai Airlines are pictured at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai. China ordered domestic airlines to suspend commercial operation of the jet model citing the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air disasters

Britain has banned all Boeing 737 Max aircraft from flying in its airspace following the Ethiopian Airlines disaster om Sunday

Countries and carriers around the globe that have grounded 737 Max 8

A growing number of airlines around the world have grounded their Boeing 737 Max 8 jets following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed 157 people on Sunday.

Here is a list of airlines and countries that have grounded the aircraft so far:

Ethiopia

A spokesman for Ethiopian Airlines says it will ground its remaining four Max 8 jets as an ‘extra safety precaution’ while it investigates Sunday’s deadly crash.

Asrat Begashaw said investigations and the search for bodies and aircraft debris will continue. The airline is awaiting the delivery of 25 more Max 8 jets.

Brazil

Brazil’s Gol Airlines has suspended the use of 121 Max 8 jets. The airline said it is following the investigation of the Max 8 closely and hopes to return the aircraft to use as soon as possible.

Gol said it has made nearly 3,000 flights with the Max 8, which went into service last June, with ‘total security and efficiency’.

Cayman Islands

Cayman Airways, a Caribbean carrier, said it stopped using its two Max 8 jets starting on Monday. President and CEO Fabian Whorms said the airline is committed to ‘putting the safety of our passengers and crew first’.

Mr Whorms said the move will cause changes to flight schedules. Cayman is the flag carrier of Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory. It received its first Max 8 in November and its second earlier this month.

China

China has 96 Max 8 jets in service, belonging to carriers such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. The civilian aviation authority directed the planes to be grounded indefinitely on Monday.

It said the order was ‘taken in line with the management principle of zero tolerance for security risks’. There were eight Chinese citizens on the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after taking off on Sunday. The authority said it will consult the US Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing before deciding when to lift the ban.

India

India’s Jet Airways says it is ‘in contact with the manufacturer’ of Max 8 jets and has grounded five of them starting on Monday.

Indian airline SpiceJet also uses the aircraft, but it is unclear if those planes are grounded.

On Monday, India’s aviation watchdog ordered a safety assessment of the aircraft. It also issued safety instructions for flying the Max 8 jet.

Indonesia

Indonesia says it will temporarily ground Max 8 jets to inspect their airworthiness. Director general of Air Transportation Polana B Pramesti said the move was made to ensure flight safety.

A Lion Air model of the same plane crashed in Indonesia in October. Indonesian airlines operate 11 Max 8 jets. Lion Air, which owns 10 of them, said it will try to minimise the impact of the decision on operations. The other Max 8 jet belongs to national carrier Garuda.

Mexico

Mexican airline Aeromexico has suspended flights of its six Max 8 jets after the crash in Ethiopia.

Aeromexico said it ‘fully’ trusts the safety of its fleet but ordered the grounding to ensure ‘the safety of its operations and the peace of mind of its customers’. It said other planes will take over the routes usually flown by the Max 8.

Singapore

Singapore has temporarily banned Max 8 jets – and other models in the Max range – from entering and leaving the country.

The civil aviation authority said it was ‘closely monitoring the situation’ and the ban will be ‘reviewed as relevant safety information becomes available’. It added that it was in close communication with the FAA, Boeing and other aviation authorities.

SilkAir, a regional carrier owned by Singapore Airlines, has six Max 8 jets. It said the ban ‘will have an impact on some of the airline’s flight schedules’. The authority said flights to Singapore by China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Shandong Airlines and Thai Lion Air will also be affected.

South Korea

An Eastar Jet official said that the planes will be replaced by Boeing 737-800 planes from Wednesday on routes to Japan and Thailand.

She said the airline has not found any problems, but is voluntarily grounding Boeing 737 Max 8s in a response to customer concerns. She says the planes will not be used until the completion of a government safety review on the aircraft.

An official from South Korea’s Transportation Ministry says it has yet to find any problems from safety reviews on Eastar’s planes that started on Monday.

Australia

Australia has suspended all flights into or out of the country by Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority says no Australian airlines operate the aircraft type, but two foreign airlines – SilkAir and Fiji Airways – fly them to Australia.

Director of aviation safety, Shane Carmody, says that because of the two accidents, the temporary suspension of Boeing 737 Max operations is in the best interest of safety.

Oman

The sultanate’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation announced it is ‘temporarily suspending’ flights by Boeing 737 Max aircraft at its airports.

State-owned Oman Air operates five Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

Malaysia

Authorities say all flights by Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft into and out of the country have been suspended.

The Civil Aviation Authority said no Malaysian carriers operate the Max 8, but that foreign airlines are banned from flying the plane in Malaysia, and from transiting in the country, until further notice.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it had, as a precautionary measure, ‘issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK air space’.

Five 737 Max aircraft are registered and operational in the UK, while a sixth was due to come into service later this week.

Norway

Norwegian Air Shuttle says it has grounded its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft on a recommendation from European aviation authorities. The low-cost carrier has 18 of the planes.

Acting chief operating officer Tomas Hesthammer said: ‘The safety and security of our customers and colleagues will never be compromised, and once authorities advise to cease operations we will of course comply.’

Germany

The transport ministry said the country is closing its air space to Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

The ministry confirmed to news agency dpa comments made by transport minister Andreas Scheuer to n-tv television.

The broadcaster quoted Mr Scheuer as saying safety is the priority, and ‘until all doubts are cleared up, I have ordered that German air space be closed for the Boeing 737 Max with immediate effect’.

Ireland

Aviation authorities have suspended all variants of Boeing 737 Max aircraft into and out of Ireland’s air space.

Officials said they made the decision ‘based on ensuring the continued safety of passengers and flight crew’.

France

The French Civil Aviation Authority has closed French air space to all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

Officials said France is ‘carefully following the progress of the inquiry’ relating to the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in Addis Ababa.

It said French airlines do not have any Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, but as a precautionary measure authorities have decided to ‘forbid all commercial flights on a Boeing 737 Max departing from, travelling to, or flying across, France’.

Turkey

Turkish Airlines said it is grounding all Boeing 737 Max aircraft in its fleet until further notice.

Chief executive Bilal Eksi said all Boeing 737 Max flights are suspended until the ‘uncertainty affecting safety is cleared’. He added that passenger safety is the company’s priority.

‘The safety and wellbeing of our customers and staff has remained our primary concern.’

Flight ET302 was seen ‘swerving and dipping’ before crashing down minutes from take off from Addis Ababa on Sunday morning. Witnesses have described seeing it ‘rotating twice in the air’ before it hit the ground and exploded.

It was the second disaster involving the US planemaker’s latest model in less than five months after a Lion Air jet crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189. US regulators have ordered Boeing to make urgent improvements to the aircraft model.

The two disasters have alarmed the public with passengers taking to social media to voice their concerns and some demanding that the Max 8 be grounded globally while safety checks take place.

The scare has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of the world’s biggest planemaker, as the Boeing Co share closed five per cent down on Monday having fallen by as much as 13.5 per cent at one point.

Investigators have recovered the black box flight recorders from the Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines plane, which was carrying passengers and crew from 35 countries, including some two dozen UN staff.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday it was ordering Boeing to improve anti-stalling software and the model’s maneuvering system, giving the company until the end of April to make the updates.

But the body ruled out grounding the fleet for now. It said investigations had ‘just begun’ and so far no data had been provided to ‘draw any conclusions or take any actions.’

‘If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action,’ it said in a statement.

A page of a flight crew operations manual is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight plane crash today

Pictures have emerged showing the scale of the crash site from above. Diggers have been excavating the site in a bid to locate bodies

The disaster was the second deadly incident involving the new model of Boeing passenger jet in less than five months, prompting concern over its safety

As many as 19 UN workers were feared to have been killed in the crash, the number being so high because of its environmental forum which started on Monday

Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam said the pilot had sent out a distress call and was given the all-clear to return to the airport

Last last night, Boeing Co confirmed it will deploy a software upgrade to the 737 MAX 8, a few hours after the FAA said it would mandate ‘design changes’ in the aircraft by April.

Boeing did not reference Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash in connection to the software upgrade. The statement did express the company’s condolences to the relatives of the 157 people who died, however.

The company said in the aftermath of October’s Lion Air Flight crash it has for several months ‘been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.’

The software upgrade ‘will be deployed across the 737 MAX fleet in the coming weeks,’ it said.

Meanwhile, Australia’s civil aviation safety authority this morning suspended the MAX aircraft from flying to or from the country.

‘This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 MAX to and from Australia,’ Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority CEO Shane Carmody said in a statement.

US plane maker Boeing is facing questions over the safety of one of its key aircraft models after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed killing 157 – the second disaster involving a 737 MAX 8 in just five months. Pictured: The crash scene yesterday

Aftermath: Parts of the plane’s landing gear lie in the soil at the crash site some 40 miles from Addis Ababa

The graphic shows how the plane’s vertical speed fluctuated in the minute before it crashed near Addis Ababa airport

Singapore regulators’ have announced that all types of MAX aircraft were banned from its airspace. That came after China ordered domestic airlines to suspend commercial operations of the MAX 8, and Indonesia grounded its entire fleet of the jets for inspections.

Ethiopian Airlines has grounded its remaining MAX 8 jets, while airlines in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico have taken theirs out of service and pilots from Argentina’s Aerolineas Argentinas are refusing to fly them.

The Malaysian government ordered an urgent review of orders for several MAX aircrafts by flag carrier Malaysia Airlines.

Several airlines have said they are not cancelling MAX 8 flights, however, while US carriers appear to retain confidence in the manufacturer.

Newlywed husband received a text from wife while she was on board doomed Ethiopian jet… but she was dead before he was able to reply

Indian newlywed Shikha Garg texted her husband from the doomed Ethiopian Airlines jet – but was dead before he could reply

An Indian newly-wed received a text from his wife while she was on board the doomed Ethiopian Airlines jet – but she was dead before he was able to reply, it has emerged.

Shikha Garg, who was travelling to a UN meeting in Nairobi, had married Soumya Bhattacharya less than three months ago after dating him for three years.

Bhattacharya was also supposed to fly with her to Nairobi but a last-minute change in plans meant he stayed back in New Delhi, the Times of India reported.

‘I have boarded the flight and will call you once I land,’ Garg texted.

But before the husband could type a reply, his phone buzzed and a caller informed him about the plane crash, the newspaper said.

Bhattacharya had also bought a flight ticket for Nairobi but cancelled it because of an urgent meeting.

The couple, who lived in New Delhi, had instead planned a vacation after Garg’s return from Nairobi, where she was due to attend the annual assembly of the UN Environment Programme.

On Monday Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said she was unable to get in touch with Garg’s family and appealed for help on Twitter.

Later she said she had managed to speak to Garg’s bereaved family members as well as those of other three Indians who died in the crash

Garg was a consultant with the Indian environment ministry and had taken part in the negotiations leading to the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The ‘brand new’ Boeing 737 MAX 8 took off from Bole International Airport and reached an altitude of 8,600ft before coming crashing down 37 miles from Addis Ababa

The Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed just minutes after an early-morning takeoff Sunday from Addis Ababa.

People holding passports from 35 countries were on board including some two dozen UN staff.

The aircraft was the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air plane that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew.

The latest crash has prompted airlines across the world to begin withdrawing the model from schedules.

Indian regulators Monday ordered additional maintenance checks on Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes but ruled out any immediate grounding of the fleet.

India’s Spicejet and Jet Airways together operate 17 of the planes.

Jet, which has had to ground parts of its fleet in recent weeks due to its financial woes, said none of its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was operational at present.

Are 737 Max 8 jets safe? Boeing faces troubling questions after second crash in five months

Boeing issued a safety warning last November about its new 737 Max jets which could have a fault that causes them to nose-dive.

The special bulletin sent to operators was about a sensor problem flagged by Indonesian safety officials investigating the crash of a Lion Air 737 that killed 189 people just a week before the memo was sent.

Since the 737 Max was unveiled in 2017, 350 of the jets have been bought, with around a further future 4,761 orders placed. More than 40 airlines around the world use the 737 Max, which has four kinds in the fleet, numbered 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Airlines such as Norwegian Air, Air China, TUI, Air Canada, United Airlines, American Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Icelandair and FlyDubai use the aircraft with hundreds in operation around the world.

The 8 series, which was involved in the crash in Indonesia, has only been in commercial use since 2017.

Boeing said in November that local aviation officials believed pilots may have been given wrong information by the plane’s automated systems before the fatal crash.

An AOA sensor provides data about the angle at which wind is passing over the wings and tells pilots how much lift a plane is getting.

According to a technical log the Lion Air plane, which had only been in service a few months, suffered instrument problems the day before because of an ‘unreliable’ airspeed reading.

The MAX models are relatively new but has already been investigated after problems reported. Pictured: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 (stock image)

Minutes after take-off the plane suddenly nose-dived hitting speeds of 600mph before slamming into the sea.

The warning issued today read: ‘The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee has indicated that Lion Air flight 610 experienced erroneous input from one of its AOA (Angle of Attack) sensors.

‘Boeing issued an Operations Manual Bulletin (OMB) directing operators to existing flight crew procedures to address circumstances where there is erroneous input from an AOA sensor.’

As a result of an investigation into the crash the jet manufacturer is said to be preparing a bulletin to be sent to operators of the 737 jets warning about faulty cockpit readings that could cause a dive.

The notice refers to the ‘angle of attack’, which is the angle of the wing relative to oncoming air stream, a measure that indicates if a plane is likely to stall.

This angle of attack, which is a calculation of the angle at which the wind is passing over the wings, is used to be determined if a stall is imminent.

Inspectors found faults on two other Boeing 737 MAX jets, including one which mirrored a problem reported on board the Lion Air plane.

Holidaymakers took to social media to voice their concerns. Lucy Barcoo asked TUI on Twitter: ‘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.’

Michael Bibby wrote: ‘TUI need to ground the death plane until Boeing provide a proper fix!’

In the US, passengers on an American Airlines flight from Miami were heard expressing their concerns to a flight attendant.

One, a 38-year-old woman named Kate, told the New York Post: ‘All I heard the flight attendant say was, ‘If you have a Toyota crash, do you take all the Toyotas off the road?’

‘I fly a lot so I try not to think about what the potential outcomes could be.’

Others told the newspaper they would not have taken the trip had they known the aircraft was a Max 8 – the model involved in the Ethiopian Airlines disaster.

Another passenger said: ‘Good thing I didn’t know about that. Had I known I’d probably still be where I was at.’

And a woman named as Carly M. added: ‘It’s really scary.’

Boeing has described the MAX series as its fastest-selling family of planes, with more than 5,000 orders placed to date from about 100 customers.

But not since the 1970s – when the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 had successive fatal incidents – has a new model been involved in two deadly accidents in such a short period.

The weekend crash sent Boeing shares nosediving as much as 12 percent on Monday.

The plane involved in Sunday’s crash was less than four months old, with Ethiopian Airlines saying it was delivered on November 15.

It went down near the village of Tulu Fara, some 40 miles (60 kilometers) east of Addis Ababa.

One witness has told The Associated Press that smoke was coming from the plane’s rear before it crashed in a rural field. ‘The plane rotated two times in the air, and it had some smoke coming from the back then, it hit the ground and exploded,’ Tamrat Abera said.

Inhabitants of the remote area looked on from behind a security cordon as inspectors searched the crash site and excavated it with a mechanical digger.

The single-aisle Boeing jet had left a deep, black crater.

Ethiopian Airlines said the pilot was given clearance to turn around after indicating problems shortly before the plane disappeared from radar.

The airline’s chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam said the plane had flown in from Johannesburg early Sunday, spent three hours in Addis and was ‘dispatched with no remark,’ meaning no problems were flagged.

The crash cast a pall over a gathering of the UN Environment Programme as it opened in Nairobi – at least 22 staff from several UN agencies were on board the doomed flight.

Delegates hugged and comforted one another as they arrived at the meeting with the UN flag flying at half-mast.

Other passengers included tourists and business travelers.

Kenya had the highest death toll among the nationalities on the flight with 32, according to Ethiopian Airlines. Canada was next with 18 victims.

There were also passengers from other countries including Ethiopia, Italy, the US, Britain and France.

Among those on board was Italian archaeologist Sebastiano Tusa, 66, his wife Valeria Patrizia Li Vigni was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

On Sunday, ‘the friends I met at mass said I shouldn’t worry because bad news travels fast,’ she said.

‘In the end it arrived anyway, and it destroyed my life. I felt the disaster coming… He hadn’t even wanted to go.’

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