S.Korea's transport ministry conducts emergency safety check on Boeing 737 MAX 8 passenger jets

SEOUL, March 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's transport ministry conducted an emergency safety check on Boeing 737 MAX 8 passenger jets, operated by the country's low-cost carrier Eastar Jet, after the crash of the same Ethiopian Airlines jet, local media reported Monday.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport sent a team of officials to probe the autopilot and other systems of the two B737 MAX 8 passenger planes, run by the South Korean budget carrier and made by the U.S. aerospace company Boeing.

The emergency check came as the same plane of the Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing all of the 157 passengers on board.

Another B737 MAX 8 jet, flown by the Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air, crashed in October last year and killed all 189 passengers on board the ill-fated plane.

The South Korean budget carrier introduced the two Boeing planes late last year and early this year, using them on routes to Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

Other South Korean air carriers, including the biggest Korean Air Lines and the budget carrier T'way Air, are slated to introduce the Boeing jets later this year, according to Yonhap news agency.