Black Box From Crashed Ethiopian Airline Arrives Paris For Investigation

The black box from the doomed Ethiopian Airlines that could solve the mystery of the crash has arrived in Paris for investigation today.

The contents of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder are expected to provide critical details about what caused the disaster that left 157 dead on Sunday.

This afternoon, the grieving family of pilot Yared Mulugeta Getachew wept as they gathered at the scene of the tragedy. Getachew, 29, had been described by the airline as an experienced aviator with more than 8,000 flight hours.

It comes after the US  Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued orders for the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet model involved to be grounded.

The Black Box Flight Recorder

This followed the lead of other global aviation regulators unnerved by the second crash involving the same type of plane in less than five months. 

Long queues were seen at airports in Toronto and Vancouver after Air Canada had to re-book passengers onto new flights as the flight ban came in to force.

On Thursday morning in Addis Ababa, grieving relatives of the 157 victims of Sunday's air disaster boarded buses for a three-hour journey to the crash site in a field 37 miles outside the Ethiopian capital.

'We saw where he died and touched the earth,' said Sultan Al-Mutairi, who had come from Riyadh to mourn his brother, Saad, who perished in the crash.

The Crash Site from the Satellite View  

Families, Friends at the scene of the crash 

Detailed Analysis of Boeing Max 8

The scene of the crash

Airlines Ground Boeing 737 MAX Planes After Second Crash In Five Months

Airlines in multiple countries have suspended the use of Boeing's new 737 MAX 8 aircraft over concerns about its safety, after an Ethiopian Airlines flight of the same model crashed Sunday killing all 157 on board.

Flight ET302 to Nairobi had just taken off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa Sunday when it reported technical problems and asked for permission to turn back. It crashed shortly afterwards.

As the crash investigation got underway, the Civil Aviation Administration of China ordered Monday that all domestic Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets be out of the air by 6 p.m. local time, due to its principle of "zero tolerance for safety hazards."

China has one of the world's largest fleets of Boeing 737 MAX 8, operating 97 of the planes, according to Chinese state-run media.

The move was followed by an announcement from Ethiopian Airlines that the carrier had grounded its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets as an "extra safety precaution." Cayman Airways also said on Monday it was grounding both of its "new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft ... until more information is received."

Sunday marked the second time in less than six months that a new Boeing aircraft crashed just minutes into a flight. A Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight went down over the Java Sea in last October, killing all 189 people on board.

Both crashes are under investigation and there is no evidence of a link between the two, but similarities in the incidents have prompted caution among some airlines.

"Given in both air crashes, the aircrafts were newly delivered Boeing 737 MAX 8, and both accidents occurred during the take-off, they share certain similarities," the Chinese administration said in a statement. It added that it would contact Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration to confirm "flight safety" issues before allowing the planes to fly again.

Source:

CNN

List Of Nationalities In The Crashed Ethiopian Airlines Plane

An Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on Sunday was carrying passengers from more than 30 countries, the airline’s CEO told journalists.

He said they included 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese citizens, eight Americans, seven British citizens, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Dutch citizens, four Indians, four people from Slovakia, three Austrians, three Swedes, three Russians, two Moroccans, two Spaniards, two Poles and two Israelis.

Belgium, Indonesia, Somalia, Norway, Serbia, Togo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen each had one citizen onboard.

Four of those on board were listed as using United Nations passports and their nationalities were not immediately clear.

These are the breakdown of the nationalities of the passengers below...

AFRICA
Kenya 32
Ethiopia 9
Egypt 6
Morocco 2
Djibouti 1
Mozambique 1
Rwanda 1
Sudan 1
Somalia 1
Togo 1
Uganda 1
Nigeria 1

AMERICANS
Canada 18
The United States 8

ASIA
China 8
India 4
Indonesia 1
Nepal 1

EUROPE
Italy 8
France 7
Britain 7
Germany 5
Slovakia 4
Russia 3
Austria 3
Sweden 3
Spain 2
Poland 2
Belgium 1
Ireland 1
Norway 1
Serbia 1

Middle East
Israel 2
Saudi Arabia 1
Yemen 1

Other
UN passport 1

TOTAL = 150

NOTE: The count is not final

Ethiopian Airlines Crashes Few Minutes After Takeoff, 157 Passengers Onboard Dead

The world is mourning right now as an Ethiopian Airplane crashed and killed all its 150 passengers on board. According to AFP, An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed Sunday morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board, Ethiopian Airlines said as Ethiopia’s prime minister offered condolences to passengers’ families.

“We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in an accident today,” the airline said in a statement.

“It is believed that there were 149 passengers and eight crew on board the flight but we are currently confirming the details of the passenger manifest for the flight.”

The airline said, “Search and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible casualties.”

The plane took off at 8:38 am (0638 GMT) from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” six minutes later near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres (37 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa by road.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office tweeted it “Would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regularly scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.”

Ethiopian Airlines said it would send staff to the accident scene to “do everything possible to assist the emergency services.”

It would also set up a passenger information centre and a dedicated telephone number for family and friends of people who may have been on the flight.

The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

The last major accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was a Boeing 737-800 that exploded after taking off from Lebanon in 2010, killing 83 passengers and seven crew.