Turkish Ministry of Transport issued a safety notice restricts Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft from arriving, departing or overflying in country's airspace.

"In order to ensure flight safety, the flights of Boeing 737-8 Max and Boeing 737-9 Max models aircraft were restricted in the Turkish air space," the ministry said.

The restriction does not include the flight of Boeing 737-8 Max and Boeing 737-9 Max models aircraft from arriving, departing or overflying while there no passenger on board.

In a statement by Yahya Üstün, Press Consultant of Turkish Airlines on Wednesday said, "Commercial operations of 12 Boeing 737 Max model passenger aircraft in our fleet have been grounded until a second decision as of March 13."

Many countries close airspace to MAX

List of countries grows that close airspace to this model of aircraft after the Ethiopian Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane crashed minutes after takeoff with 157 passengers and crewmembers on board.

Countries that banned Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 from flying in their airspaces along with Turkiye are: Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Brazil, United States, Canada, Iraq, Nigeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Kosovo, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Fiji, Vietnam, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Australia, China, All European Union countries, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Namibia, Oman and Singapore.

Second crash in 5 Months

The crash in Ethiopia was recorded as the second crash of the 737 Max 8 aircraft produced by the US Boeing company in five months. The previous accident occurred in October last year in Indonesia off the coast and 189 people on board were killed in the crash.

Airline pilots on at least a few US flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their planes to tilt down suddenly.

ILKHA