Govt temporarily grounds Boeing 737 MAX jets

China's civil aviation authority asked domestic airlines to temporarily suspend operation of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft after a model operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed on Sunday.

All 157 people on board the aircraft from Addis Ababa to Nairobi died in the accident, according to Ethiopian Airlines. It is the second time in less than five months that Boeing 737 MAX 8 was involved in such a deadly crash.

The authority said since both aircraft went down in minutes just after taking off, it will ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets till 6 pm on Monday out of safety concerns.

The administration will contact the US Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing Company and resume the commercial operation of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft after it is convinced about the safety of the model.

According to report by caijing.com, Boeing 737-800 models will replace many of the domestic Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets.

There are over 60 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft that have been delivered to Chinese carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, caijing.com reported.