TORONTO — Air Canada says its grounded Boeing 737 Max aircraft are equipped with two optional safety features reportedly lacking in the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. According to the report, the safety features are not standard on the aircraft and are offered by Boeing as upgrades. Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur says the airline purchased the features for its fleet of 24 Max 8 planes. The causes of the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 and the Lion Air crash five months earlier, both on takeoff, are being investigated. Investigators are looking at whether a new software system added to avoid stalls may have been a contributing factor.

Source: Ethiopian News March 21, 2019 17:15 UTC