(Bloomberg) -- Australia and New Zealand grounded Gippsland GA8 Airvan planes over safety concerns after a deadly crash in Sweden this month killed nine.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority halted operations of the planes made by Gippsaero Pty Ltd for 15 days from July 20, it said in a statement, adding it has sent an airworthiness engineer to Sweden to observe the crash investigation and collect relevant safety information. There are 63 GA8 aircraft registered in Australia out of a global fleet of 228, it said.

“CASA has been working closely with the Swedish and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency,” it said. “In response to CASA temporarily suspending GA8 operations in Australia, EASA has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive to European GA8 aircraft owners and operators to not operate the aeroplane except for ferry flights.”

The fatal crash occurred near Umea in northern Sweden during a skydiving flight, CASA said. The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand said separately that information coming out of an initial probe showed the plane appeared to have suffered structural failure at 4,000 meters altitude.

The GA8 is mainly used in New Zealand on tourist flight-seeing operations, the N.Z. authority said, adding that 21 aircraft and 10 operators would be affected.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in Hong Kong at egismatullin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Subramaniam Sharma </s> The Civil Aviation Authority is grounding all 21 Gippsland GA8 Airvan aircraft in New Zealand after a crash in Sweden which killed 9 people last week.

Aviation New Zealand Chief Executive John Nicholson said three flight companies currently operated the aircraft including Salt Air, which operates in Auckland and Northland, Air Safari, which operates at Mt Cook and Southern Alps Air.

The aircraft generally seats eight passengers and a pilot, with many used in the South Island around the Milford Sounds and Queenstown.

Director of Civil Aviation Graeme Harris said the grounding was not a decision made lightly.

“I have sufficient concerns about the safety of these aircraft to make it necessary for me to ground them until more is known about the cause of the 14 July crash in Sweden that killed all 9 people on board a GA8 Airvan,” he said in a statement.

“We do not take these steps lightly but when there is a reasonable doubt about the safety of an aircraft, the flying public, operators and pilots of the affected aircraft in New Zealand must be satisfied that the CAA will act with their safety as a priority.”

“Whilst I regret any inconvenience this grounding will cause and acknowledge its significant commercial impact, I simply cannot compromise when I have information that indicates any unacceptable risk.”

A technical specialist from Australia is off to Sweden to help with the investigation into the crash. </s> Victorian-made aeroplanes have been grounded after a fatal crash in Sweden left nine people dead.

Operations of the GippsAero GA8 plane have been suspended for 15 days, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority announced on Saturday.

It comes after the same model of plane crashed during a skydiving flight near Umea in northern Sweden on July 14.

"CASA has temporarily suspended GA8 operations as a precautionary step pending the outcome of further investigation by Swedish and European authorities," the authority said in a statement.

The European Union's aviation safety agency has issued an order to GA8 aircraft owners and operators across the EU not to operate the plane except for ferry flights.

The temporary suspension will last up to 15 days from midnight on July 20 and affects all GA8 aircraft in Australia and all Australian-registered GA8 planes overseas.

The single engine, high wing aeroplane with fixed tricycle landing gear is made in the Latrobe Valley by GippsAero. </s> Twenty-one New Zealand planes - which are used globally for skydiving and scenic flights - have been banned from flying out of fear they may not be safe.

Today Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) director Graeme Harris suspended the airworthiness certificates of all 21 Gippsland GA8 Airvan aircraft currently operating in New Zealand saying he had "sufficient concerns about the safety of these aircraft".

It's a direct response to the crash that killed nine people when a GA8 Airvan plane carrying them for a parachute jump crashed in northern Sweden soon after taking off.

Harris told the Herald until more was known about the cause of the Sweden crash the suspension would remain in place.

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"We do not take these steps lightly but when there is a reasonable doubt about the safety of an aircraft, the flying public, operators and pilots of the affected aircraft in New Zealand must be satisfied that the CAA will act with their safety as a priority.

"While I regret any inconvenience this grounding will cause and acknowledge its significant commercial impact; I simply cannot compromise when I have information that indicates any unacceptable risk," he said.

Harris said he had been in contact with his Australian counterpart at CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) as the GA8 was Australian manufactured and they were the designated state of design and manufacture.

"I understand that CASA has sent a technical specialist to Sweden to gain first hand insight into the progress of the crash investigation.

"Based on information coming out of the initial investigation into the crash it appears the aeroplane, at 4000 meters altitude, suffered structural failure, but, at this time, the root cause of the accident cannot be confirmed," Harris said.

The grounding of the New Zealand planes is effective immediately and will be reviewed as further information becomes available from Sweden and Australia. </s> Australian-made GippsAero GA8 aircraft grounded after nine die in Sweden plane crash

Aviation authorities have grounded an Australian-made aircraft involved in a crash in Sweden in which nine people were killed.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has suspended operations of the GippsAero GA8 aircraft for 15 days as a precaution, as investigations continue into the cause of the crash near Umea in northern Sweden on July 14.

All nine people on the skydiving flight died in the crash.

"While we gather more information about that, we thought it was prudent to put them on the ground," CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said.

Swedish authorities have expressed concern that the aircraft may have broken up during the flight.

The GA8 is manufactured in Australia by GippsAero, which is based in the Latrobe Valley.

CASA said there were 228 of the planes in service globally, including 63 in Australia.

Spokesman Peter Gibson said the GA8 was first certified in 2000 and had not had a difficult safety history prior to the crash.

He said GippsAero held a production certificate issued by CASA to manufacture the GA8 and was subject to regular surveillance and safety checks by the authority.

The GA8 is a single-engine high-wing aeroplane with fixed tricycle landing gear.

It is used in Australia for a range of purposes, including charter flights and skydiving.

CASA has written to all Australian operators of GA8 aircraft, advising them of the suspension.

It has also written to all national aviation authorities who have GA8 aircraft operating in their jurisdictions.

In response to CASA's suspension, the European Union Aviation Safety Authority has issued an emergency airworthiness directive to European GA8 aircraft owners and operators to not fly the aeroplane except for ferry flights — for example, to return the aircraft to base.

CASA has sent an airworthiness engineer to Sweden to observe the accident investigation. </s> This article is more than 1 month old

This article is more than 1 month old

Sixty-three Victorian-made planes have been grounded in Australia after a fatal crash in Sweden that killed nine people.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has suspended operations of GippsAero GA8 aircraft after the accident in Umeo on 14 July. No one on board survived the crash.

The GA8 is manufactured in Australia by GippsAero, which is based in the Latrobe Valley.

CASA said in a statement it had temporarily suspended all flights pending the outcome of an investigation by Swedish and European authorities.

The suspension will be for up to 15 days from 20 July to midnight 3 August and affects all GA8 aircraft operating in Australia and all Australian-registered GA8 aircraft operating overseas. There are 63 GA8 aircraft registered in Australia out of a worldwide fleet of 228.

The GA8 is a single-engine high-wing aeroplane with fixed tricycle landing gear. In Australia, the GA8 is used in a range of operations including charter, aerial work and parachuting.

“CASA has written to all Australian operators of GA8 aircraft advising them of the temporary suspension and reminding them of their obligation to comply with all applicable GA8 airworthiness directives issued by CASA,” a spokesman said.

“CASA has also written to all national aviation authorities who have GA8 aircraft operating in their jurisdiction advising them that CASA has imposed a 15-day temporary operating suspension on these aircraft.”

CASA said the authority had been working closely with Sweden and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

It said in response to the temporary suspension of GA8 operations in Australia, EASA had issued an emergency airworthiness directive to European GA8 aircraft owners and operators to not operate the aeroplane except for ferry flights.

CASA has also sent an airworthiness engineer to Sweden to observe the accident investigation and collect safety information.

The authority said GippsAero held a production certificate issued by CASA to manufacture the GA8 and the company was subject to regular surveillance and safety checks by CASA.

The aircraft type was certified in 2000 by CASA for normal operations, which includes skydiving. </s> Reports say witnesses saw parachutists try to jump clear of GippsAero GA8 Airvan as it plunged into islands

This article is more than 1 month old

This article is more than 1 month old

A small plane carrying parachutists crashed in northern Sweden soon after takeoff on Sunday and all nine people on board were killed, officials said.

The accident took place a little after 2pm local time on Storsandskar island. Swedish media quoted witnesses reporting that some of the parachutists were seen trying to jump off the plane just before the crash.

Swedish airport authority Swedavia said the crashed aircraft was a GippsAero GA8 Airvan, an Australian-made single-engine plane popular with parachutists, that took off from Umea airport. The cause of the crash was not yet known.

“I can confirm that all those aboard the plane have died,” said Vasterbotten municipality spokeswoman Gabriella Bandling.

One witness told Swedish broadcaster SVT she heard a loud noise from above before she saw the plane going straight down and crashing into the island.

The Swedish prime minister, Stefan Lofven, expressed “great sadness” over the accident in a statement to Swedish news agency TT. He sent condolences to the families of the victims and said the government would stay in close touch with officials probing the crash “as it is important to investigate the cause”. </s> Canada is grounding all of its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft and banning the jet from entering its airspace until further notice as safety concerns continue to mount following two deadly crashes.

"This safety notice restricts commercial passenger flights from any air operator, both domestic and foreign, of the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft from arriving, departing, or overflying Canadian airspace," Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters earlier today. (The Max 9 has an extended fuselage, but uses the same systems as the Max 8s).

Canada had been one of the last holdouts on temporarily banning the Max 8s in the wake of the recent Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board, including 18 Canadians. The U.K., the European Union, Australia and other countries had moved already to ban the jet from their airspace in response to growing safety concerns.

Garneau said the decision to issue the safety notice was made after his department received new data suggesting a similarity between the Ethiopian Airlines crash and another deadly crash near Indonesia in October.

The minister said much of the new information is new and unproven, but added:

"There are — and I hasten to say not conclusive — but there are similarities that sort of exceed a certain threshold in our minds with respect to the possible cause of what happened in Ethiopia"

"My departmental officials continue to monitor the situation and I will not hesitate to take swift action should we discover any additional safety issues," he said.

U.S. follows suit

U.S. President Donald Trump issued an "emergency order" grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 a few hours after Canada's decision.

Garneau said Canada alerted the U.S. to the safety notice on Wednesday morning.

According to Reuters, the Federal Aviation Administration held urgent meetings on the issue after Canada announced it would become the latest major country to ground the jets.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, Garneau directly contacted his counterpart, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. The source said the Americans understood Garneau's decision and did not try to persuade Ottawa to change its mind.

"It was always a possibility, but the fact that they announced it just after us came as a bit of a surprise," said Garneau.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau discusses the decision to ground Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft, after Canada had been one of the last holdouts. 9:09

Air Canada, which already had cancelled multiple scheduled flights to and from London in response to the U.K. closing its airspace yesterday, said it's working to rebook passengers.

"Air Canada's cancellation and rebooking policies are in place with full fee waiver for affected customers," said a spokesperson.

"We are working to rebook impacted customers as soon as possible, but given the magnitude of our 737 MAX operations, which on average carry nine to twelve thousand customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada call centres."

WestJet also said it will begin complying with Transport Canada's direction.

"We respect the decision made by Transport Canada and are in the process of grounding the 13 MAX aircraft in our fleet," said the company in an email.

"This decision has an impact on the travel plans of our WestJet guests and we ask for understanding as we work to rebook all guests affected as quickly as possible."

An Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft is towed in on Wednesday behind another Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8 at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)

Toronto-based Sunwing Airlines announced late Tuesday it would voluntarily ground its four Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft for "evolving commercial reasons," such as airspace restrictions imposed by some destinations.

The union representing Air Canada's 8,500 flight attendants welcomed the decision.

"In light of the new data received by the federal government, we welcome the Minister's decision to err on the side of prudence until the analysis of the causes of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash is completed," said CUPE spokesperson Wesley Lesosky.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau illustrates the similarities between the Lion Air flight crash from October 2018 to this past weekend's Ethiopian Airlines plane crash out of Addis Ababa. 1:23

Earlier this week, Garneau said it would be "premature" to ground all 41 of the 737 Max 8s currently owned by Canadian air carriers.

However, shortly after the U.K. announced yesterday it is temporarily banning the jets from its airspace, Garneau tweeted that he was cancelling previous plans and meeting with his civil aviation expert panel to discuss the Max 8 aircraft.

Both the Conservatives and the NDP had been calling on the government to ground the planes as a precaution.

Brian Masse, the NDP innovation, science and economic development critic, criticized the speed of Garneau's decision Wednesday, saying "it should have been made sooner" given how other countries took action well before the midday Wednesday announcement.

Masse is asking Garneau to enact a "contingency plan" to ensure passengers who find their travel plans disrupted by the grounding of these aircraft are not "gouged" by airlines during the rebooking process.

"Canadian airlines have the privilege of providing air transport to millions of Canadians and this entails comprehensive responsibilities to ensure their passengers are safe and treated fairly in the market," he wrote in a letter. "Consumers should not be further victimized by predatory practices or pricing during this time."

Pilot reported problems: airline

Sunday's disaster follows another fatal crash of the 737 Max 8 jet in Indonesia five months ago, which killed 189 people and raised concerns about the fleet's automated flight systems.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre both agree that the government should ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 jets until they can be proven to be safe. 0:55

Asrat Begashaw, a spokesperson for Ethiopian Airlines, said that before the crash, the pilot reported flight-control problems and asked to return to Addis Ababa, where the flight to Nairobi originated.

The 'black box' flight recorders from the crash site will be sent to Europe for analysis, he said. </s> Helsinki: Swedish officials said a small plane carrying parachutists crashed in northern Sweden soon after takeoff on Sunday and all nine people on board were killed.

The accident took place a little after 2pm local time on Storsandskar island. Swedish media quoted witnesses reporting that some of the parachutists were seen trying to jump off the plane just before the crash.

Swedish airport authority Swedavia said the crashed aircraft was a GippsAero GA8 Airvan, an Australian-made single-engine plane popular with parachutists, that took off from Umea Airport. The cause of the crash is not yet known.

"I can confirm that all those aboard the plane have died," Region Vasterbotten municipality spokeswoman Gabriella Bandling said.
The Gippsland GA8 Airvan is grounded in Australia, New Zealand and the European Union following a fatal crash on July 14.