Europe has banned the Boeing 737 MAX - a plane that has crashed twice since October

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A Norwegian Air Boeing 737 MAX.

• The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has banned all Boeing 737 MAX airliners from flying in Europe.
• The regulatory agency cited the need to ensure the safety of passengers following the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 on Sunday.
• EASA also issued a safety directive that is suspending all non-European airlines from operating the Boeing jet into, within, or out of the European Union.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has banned all Boeing 737 MAX airliners from flying in Europe. The regulatory agency cited the need to ensure the safety of passengers following the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 on Sunday. The incident, which killed all 157 on board, marked the second crash of a nearly brand new 737 MAX since October.

"As a precautionary measure, EASA has published today an Airworthiness Directive, effective as of 19:00 UTC, suspending all flight operations of all Boeing Model 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX airplanes in Europe," EASA said in a statement on Tuesday.

Read more: Boeing is going to update the control software on the 737 Max that may cause the plane to nosedive.

In addition, EASA also issued a safety directive that is suspending all non-European airlines from operating the 737 MAX into, within, or out of the European Union. The agency also said it has offered its assistance to the ET302 crash investigation that's currently being led by the Ethiopian Authorities with the support of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Even though EASA has banned the aircraft from its airspace, the agency urged caution and declined to assign to blame for the incident.

"EASA is continuously analyzing the data as it becomes available," EASA said. "The accident investigation is currently ongoing, and it is too early to draw any conclusions as to the cause of the accident."

Regulatory agencies in China, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Ethiopia have all grounded the 737 MAXs operating within their jurisdictions.

The aircraft is still in operation in the US with American, Southwest, and United Airlines.

More about the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and the Ethiopian Airlines disaster:

• Seven airlines and 5 countries have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 after a 2nd crash involving the plane killed 157 people - here's who's taken action so far
• There's a significant difference between the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air plane crashes, which both involved the Boeing 737 Max 8
• These are the victims of the Boeing 737 Max 8 crash in Ethiopia
• FAA says Boeing 737 Max 8, the plane that's crashed twice in 5 months, is still safe to fly
• Southwest has the largest exposure of all US airlines to Boeing's 737 Max
• The black box from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight has been found
• The family of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 captain speaks out after crash that killed 157 people
• A Georgetown University law student who reportedly expressed a fear of flying is among the 157 dead in the Ethiopian Airlines crash
• An Ethiopian Airlines passenger said he missed the crashed flight by 2 minutes: 'I'm grateful to be alive'
• People of 35 different nationalities were killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, including 8 Americans

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