Russia closes airspace to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

MOSCOW

Russia on Thursday became the latest country to shut down its airspace to all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after they had been involved in two separate accidents within the past five months.

Russia's aviation authority, Federal Air Transport Agency, or Rosaviation, said two Boeing-737 MAX planes operated by Russian air companies are grounded as well.

On Sunday, a Kenya-bound Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed just six minutes after taking off from an airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

All 157 people on board -- 149 passengers and eight crew members -- were killed in the crash.

The plane model was also involved in an October crash outside of Jakarta, Indonesia. All 189 people on board Lion Air flight JT610 were killed. This crash, too, took place shortly after take-off.