Broward County's mayor called for a ban on all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from landing at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Wednesday, shortly before President Donald Trump said the U.S. is issuing an emergency order grounding all of the planes.
Mayor Mark Bogen said he wanted Broward commissioners to vote on an item at Tuesday's board meeting that would stop the plane from landing at the airport, after it was involved in two deadly accidents in just five months.
"My interest is to protect the public until we can find the cause of these crashes and problems with the aircraft," Bogen said in a statement Wednesday. "If we can't legally stop the aircraft from landing here in Fort Lauderdale, then I've asked the County Attorney to amend our contracts with airlines flying the jet and I want warning signs placed at terminal gates so passengers will know they’re boarding this type of aircraft."
Earlier Wednesday, Canada joined much of the world in barring the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet from its airspace but until now, the Federal Aviation Administration had been saying that it didn't have any data to show the jets are unsafe.
Trump said Wednesday that the FAA would be making the announcement soon to ground the planes.
He says any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and then be grounded. Trump says pilots and airlines have been notified.
He says the safety of the American people is of "paramount concern."
Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday, killing all 157 on board in Ethiopia. In October, 187 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed just after takeoff in Indonesia.
Airline pilots on at least two U.S. flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their planes to tilt down suddenly.
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While aviation experts warn against drawing conclusions until more information emerges from the investigation, much of the world, including the European Union, has grounded the Max 8 or banned it from their airspace.
