Russia's airline regulator says it is suspending flying certificates for Boeing 737s currently in use in the country until it gets notification that the planes are safe to fly.
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) made the announcement on Thursday after an Airbus A321 airliner registered in Ireland but operated by a Russian firm crashed in Egypt on Saturday killing 224 people.
The IAC said the suspension would remain until it gets notification from Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsya and the US Federal Aviation Administration about the safety of Boeing 737 control surfaces on the tail of the aircraft that help steer it.
The IAC, which did not make a direct link in its November 4 statement between the certificate suspension and the crash in Egypt, could not be reached for further comment.
A Boeing spokesman in Seattle said the company was aware of the statement and looking into it, but had no further details.
There are around 200 Boeing 737s in Russia, according to Reuters calculations based on data from Rosaviatsya, or about a fifth of a total fleet, both passenger and cargo.
A spokesman for Rosaviatsya, which is obliged to comply with IAC safety recommendations, said it had not been notified of a certificate suspension, so there was no order yet to suspend flights.
In a separate statement, the IAC said it wanted all foreign planes operating in Russia to be re-registered on home soil, after the plane crash in Egypt.
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