Trump: All Boeing 737 Max 8 planes are grounded 'immediately'
The FAA also releases a statement on why it's now calling for the aircraft's grounding.
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that all of Boeing's 737 Max planes will be grounded "effective immediately," following two deadly crashes in recent months.
The president made the announcement during a White House meeting on drugs at the southern border, according to CBS News. He posted a short video of the announcement on Twitter.
"We're going to be issuing an emergency order of prohibition to ground all flights of the 737 Max 8 and the 737 Max 9, and planes associated with that line," Trump said.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2019
He added that he spoke with Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Federal Aviation Administration Acting Administrator Dan Elwell and Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who all agreed with the decision. Any planes currently in the air will be grounded after they reach their destinations, Trump said.
"The safety of the American people and all people is our paramount concern," he said.
The FAA later posted a statement to Twitter, saying it was calling for the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes operated by US airlines or in US territory.
"The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today," the FAA said. "This evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision."
#FAA statement on the temporary grounding of @Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in a U.S. territory. pic.twitter.com/tCxSakbnbH
— The FAA (@FAANews) March 13, 2019
The FAA previously declined to follow several other countries who were grounding the planes, saying in a statement tweeted March 12 that there's "no basis to order grounding the aircraft."
The administration said the grounding will remain in effect until further investigation, which includes analyzing information from the plane's flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders.
Originally published March 13, 11:55 a.m. PT.
Update, 12:31 p.m. and 1:18 p.m. PT: Adds additional information.