Dozens Of Countries Ground Boeing's 737 Max 8 Following Deadly Crash In Ethiopia
Members of the ground crew chat near a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane operated by Shanghai Airlines and parked on the tarmac at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in China. On Monday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China ordered all the country’s airlines to ground their Boeing 737 Max 8 planes after Sunday’s fatal crash of the same model plane in Ethiopia.
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Airline regulators across the globe are grounding Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, joining an ever expanding list of countries banning the plane from their airspace. This comes in the wake of Sunday’s deadly plane crash in Ethiopia that killed all 157 people on board. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
The latest move came Tuesday from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) when it announced a suspension of two Boeing 737 Max models in all flights in the European bloc.
The wave of bans follows the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s decision on Monday to order the country’s airlines to suspend all commercial operations of their Boeing 737 Max 8 jets.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration does not plan to ground the jets in the United States but is facing growing pressure to do so.
The FAA & the airline industry must act quickly & decisively to protect American travelers, pilots, & flight attendants. All Boeing 737 Max 8s should be grounded until American travels can be assured that these planes are safe. https://t.co/6yRQFasFHR
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) March 12, 2019
The FAA announced Monday that it would require a series of design changes for the Boeing 737 Max fleet.
In the U.S., Southwest Airlines uses a fleet of 34 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft and is not planning any change in service. Likewise, American Airlines, which operates 24 of the planes, is not planning to ground them.
The full list of countries and airlines that have announced a ban is below:
—Argentina (Aerolíneas Argentinas)
—Australia
—Austria
—Belgium
—Brazil (GOL Linhas Aéreas)
—Cayman Islands (Cayman Airways)
—China
—Ethiopia
—EASA member states
—France
—Germany
—Iceland (Icelandair)
—India
—Indonesia
—Ireland
—Italy
—Malaysia
—Mexico (Aeromexico)
—Mongolia (MIAT Mongolian Airlines)
—Morocco (Royal Air Maroc)
—Netherlands
—Norway (Norwegian)
—Oman
—Poland
—Singapore
—South Africa (Comair)
—South Korea (Eastar Jet)
—Turkey
—United Kingdom (TUI Airways)
Physician Discusses Treatment Of 6-Year-Old Boy In 2017 Tetanus Case
NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dr. Carl Eriksson, assistant professor of pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, about treating a case of tetanus in a 6-year-old boy.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
If you step on a nail or get bitten by a dog, one of the first questions you will be asked is this. Are you up to date on your tetanus vaccination? Tetanus is a bacterial infection that affects the nervous system. It causes muscles to tighten up. It can make it hard to swallow. It is considered a medical emergency. Fortunately cases of it are extremely rare thanks to the tetanus vaccine, so rare that a write-up about a single case of tetanus in 2017 is now getting a lot of attention.
Dr. Carl Eriksson of the Oregon Health and Science University was one of the physicians who treated that case. He joins me now. Welcome.
CARL ERIKSSON: Thank you for having me.
KELLY: So you and your colleagues write about this case in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The case was a 6-year-old boy who’d gotten a cut on his forehead. He was playing outside on a farm. Would you describe his symptoms, what his condition was?
ERIKSSON: He started having severe muscle spasms both of his arms and legs, also of his jaw, which is a very classic symptom of tetanus. He started then developing difficulty breathing because of unrelenting spasm of his diaphragm and also of muscles of his larynx and his neck.
KELLY: And I was reading in the CDC report he became very sensitive to stimuli to the extent that you darkened the room he was in; you kept your voices low.
ERIKSSON: Exactly. We had to whisper when we were in the room to try to decrease stimuli as much as possible because stimuli can worsen spasms for a patient with severe tetanus.
KELLY: So he ended up being hospitalized for 57 days. He spent more than a month on a ventilator. I read his hospital bill came to more than $800,000. As a doctor, what was going through your head? I mean, what emotions does that prompt?
ERIKSSON: Well, it’s always hard to watch a child suffer when they’re critically ill obviously. I would say it’s harder when you know that they’re suffering from a disease that is relatively easily preventable. And I think that was also on our minds while we were treating this boy. Another reason why it was really difficult is because quite frankly, we see tetanus in the U.S. so rarely that we had to look hard for the best treatment for this child and turn to literature from the developing world and other ideas for the best way to take care of him.
KELLY: Oh, really? What countries were you looking at?
ERIKSSON: Brazil is a country that has had a lot of relatively recent experience with tetanus and actually even performed some trials of specific treatments for tetanus. And a few other reports helped us to develop the best strategy for caring for this child.
KELLY: I understand after all of that, the many days of treatment, he was eventually able to resume normal activities – running, riding his bike, all the things a 6-year-old boy wants to do. Still his parents declined a second dose of the tetanus vaccine and all other vaccinations. Was that puzzling to you?
ERIKSSON: Unfortunately no. There are a lot of families who refuse vaccination for a variety of reasons. Some just need more information. I know a lot of parents struggle with finding the right source of information and knowing what’s true and what’s not true. Meanwhile, there are others who feel very strongly against vaccination and, even when presented with really clear guidance and information the risks and benefits of vaccines, will continue to refuse vaccination. What this boy reminds us of is that these are really terrible diseases with deadly consequences, and that’s a really important voice to add to the vaccine debate.
KELLY: That’s Dr. Carl Eriksson. He cares for critically ill infants and children at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, which is part of the Oregon Health and Science University. Dr. Eriksson, thank you so much.
ERIKSSON: Pleasure to be here.
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Refugee Soccer Player Hakeem al-Araibi Granted Australian Citizenship
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison fastens an Australian flag pin on Hakeem al-Araibi, a Bahraini refugee soccer player who was granted citizenship in the country on Tuesday in Melbourne.
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On Tuesday, a Bahraini refugee soccer player who was jailed and facing deportation arguably got his biggest goal — citizenship in a foreign country.
Hakeem al-Araibi, 25, was one of about 200 people who became Australia citizens at a ceremony in Melbourne.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison fastened his own Australia flag pin to Araibi’s jacket. “I’ll take the new one,” he said. “But this is for you, which you can wear very proudly, as our newest Australian but as someone whose Australian values have always been deep in his heart.”
The developments in Araibi’s life triggered outcry among human rights activists, sports enthusiasts and lawmakers across the globe.
Araibi used to play on the national soccer team in the small Persian Gulf state of Bahrain. In 2012, authorities arrested him. In 2014, a court convicted him in absentia of torching a police station, handing him a prison sentence of 10 years. The professional soccer player fled Bahrain that year.
He had been living in Australia as a refugee until last November, when he landed in Thailand during his honeymoon. Thai officials arrested him on an Interpol red notice. He spent two months in jail, facing extradition to Bahrain.
“I could still remember the tone in Hakeem’s voice,” Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the director of advocacy for the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, tells NPR. “He was telling me about his sleepless nights, like it was a film running back in his head. Remembering everything in detail about how he was abused in Bahrain detention.”
Araibi was beaten, especially on his legs and feet just to remind him that he would not play soccer again, Alwadaei says.
He says video footage showed that Araibi was playing in a televised soccer match when the alleged vandalism occurred.
Inside Bangkok Remand Prison, Araibi told The Guardian that “Bahrain wants me back to punish me” for speaking publicly about human rights abuses and discrimination against Shia Muslims by Sunni leaders.
Under international pressure, Thai prosecutors dropped the case in February and Araibi was released from a Bangkok prison cell. Bahrain withdrew its extradition request but on the same day, the minister of foreign affairs gave the ambassador of Australia to Bahrain a memorandum with the international arrest warrant issued against Araibi.
On Tuesday, the soccer player announced that he finally felt safe. “No one can follow me now,” he tweeted.
In attendance at the ceremony was Craig Foster, an Australian sports analyst and retired soccer player who worked tirelessly to raise awareness of Araibi’s case. “May we learn from the experience as a nation, treat every asylum seeker as supportively, with corresponding compassion as Hakeem. All deserve equal dignity, opportunity,” he said.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne told a crowd from the podium about the widespread concern for Araibi’s welfare. Public support “played an enormous part in ensuring he was returned to Australia,” she said.
His soccer club, Pascoe Vale, described Tuesday’s event as “a moment we all have been waiting for.” It added that his example showed how soccer can break down barriers and unite people.
Araibi is currently training and trying to regain the strength he lost while away from soccer, according to The Guardian.
Alwadaei says Tuesday’s joy only goes so far.
“Although someone managed to escape the torture doesn’t mean that their family members will be immune from consequences from the government,” he says. Araibi’s brother, who was imprisoned on the same charges, remains behind bars, Alwadaei says.
He adds that many more political prisoners are languishing in Bahrain.
“Although Hakeem got unprecedented support from the international community simply for his affiliation with [soccer],” he says, “there are thousands of other individuals who simply have no one to advocate on their behalf simply because they don’t happen to be a famous athlete or to have the community behind them.”
