TORONTO -- After more than a year of intense scrutiny surrounding Boeing鈥檚 737 jets, another crash Wednesday involving one of the company鈥檚 airliners threatens to add to the crisis at the company.
A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet went down Wednesday killing all 176 people on board, including 63 Canadians.
On the tail of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes in October 2018 and March 2019, respectively, in which nearly 350 people died, the question of which Boeing jet model crashed in Iran was top of mind for many travellers on Wednesday.
鈥淚s this another faulty Boeing 737 MAX tragedy?鈥 social media users asked online.
In a , the company said it was 鈥渞eady to assist鈥 after the crash. 鈥淭his is a tragic event and our heartfelt thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families. We are in contact with our airline customer and stand by them in this difficult time,鈥 it said.
The 737-800 is part of the 鈥淣ext Generation鈥 series that first took flight in 1997. It is among several variants of the third generation of 737s, the fourth of which is the Boeing 737 MAX series, which was grounded around the world after the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines disasters.
The 737-800 has been involved in several fatal accidents including in 2006, when a flight collided midair with a business jet, and in 2007, when a flight crashed in Kenya, killing 105. In 2010, an Air India Express flight overshot the runway, killing 158 people.
In December, Boeing delivered the aircraft in the 鈥淣ext Generation鈥 fleet, a 737-800, to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.