"There should be a full investigation but in the meantime, better safe than sorry," said Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, he added the planes are "unsafe at any speed right now."
The weekend's disaster is the second time in fewer than six months that one of the same type of planes has crashed within minutes of takeoff, after a new Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight went down over the Java Sea last October, killing 189 people.
The exact cause of Sunday's crash is unknown and there is no evidence of a link at this point between the two air disasters, but similarities in the incidents have prompted caution among some airlines. While some countries — including the UK, China and Australia — and airlines have grounded the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the US Federal Aviation Administration declined to do so Monday.
In a statement, the FAA said investigators have not yet determined whether the issue with the Ethiopian Airlines incident is related to the one that brought down the the same plane operated by Lion Air last year.
"External reports are drawing similarities between this accident and the Lion Air Flight 610 accident on October 29, 2018," reads the FAA's Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community. "However, this investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions."
Blumenthal said if the FAA isn't going to require the planes be grounded, then the airlines should do it. At least two US airlines fly the 737 MAX 8, as well as other international based airlines that fly into the US. Both US-based airlines who have the planes are continuing to use them as of Tuesday.
"These two catastrophic accidents -- both claiming the lives of all on board -- call into serious question the safety of these airplanes," Blumenthal said in a statement Monday. "The FAA and the airline industry must act quickly and decisively to protect American travelers, pilots, and flight attendants. These planes must be grounded immediately, and airlines should work expeditiously to minimize disruption and accommodate customers whose travel is impacted."
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also called for the grounding of the aircraft, as has Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
Republican Sen. John Thune of Texas told reporters that he would "prefer flying on some other plane" if it were up to him.
Thune, who is the second-ranking Senate GOP leader, seemed to suggest he would be open to grounding the planes if the evidence pointed to it, but stopped short of saying the planes should be grounded at this point. He cited the National Transportation Safety Board's participation in the crash's investigation. Thune sits on the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
NTSB officials visited the crash site Tuesday and the agency said it is not giving updates on the investigation.
"The Ethiopian Aircraft Accident Investigations Bureau is leading the investigation and, according to ICAO Annex 13, is the organization that speaks for the probe," the agency said in a statement. "While we are assisting the Ethiopians, we will not be the ones releasing any results."
Boeing said in a statement that they continued to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max 8 aircraft and cited the FAA's decision to not ground the plane in its statement.
"We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets," the company said in its statement. "We'll continue to engage with all of them to ensure they have the information they need to have confidence in operating their fleets or returning them to service."
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