Boeing 737 Licenses Temporary Suspended in Russia

The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) for several former Soviet republics on Thursday withdrew licenses for Boeing 737 planes in Russia, the Moscow-based civil aviation authority said in a statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsia told RIA Novosti it was awaiting an official confirmation before grounding its fleet of Boeing aircraft. A consultation of IAC and Rosaviatsia officials is scheduled for Friday.

The IAC said in a letter on its website that it was "forced to suspend all licenses it has issued for Boeing 737-type planes in the Russian Federation until Rosaviatsia and US FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] submit a joint confirmation that Boeing 737s operating [in Russia] conform to safety standards."

The civil aviation authority said it was concerned over the functioning of Boeing’s flight control systems, in particular its elevators, which regulate the aircraft’s pitch.

Fears over the safety of passenger planes in Russia have grown in the past few days after a Russian airline Airbus A321 had crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board.