US regulator says 'no basis' for grounding Boeing 737 Max despite crashes

WASHINGTON -- US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday said it saw "no basis" to ground Boeing 737 Max planes, despite two recent similar crashes involving aircraft in the series.

"Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft. Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action," the statement said.

The statement came amid mounting safety concerns following two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 planes in a short span of five months.

An Ethiopian Airlines plane en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya crashed Sunday, killing all 157 people aboard. A Lion Air crash in October in Indonesia killed all 189 people on board.

A growing list of countries and airlines have terminated the operation of the model, while US lawmakers, experts and industry associations are calling for its grounding in the United States.

According to the FAA, currently 74 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes are operated by US carriers.