Family & friends of 157 passengers onboard the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737MAX that crashed on Sunday morning are in mourning after learning that there were no survivors.
Ethiopia Airlines’ brand new Boeing aircraft was six minutes into a flight from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to Kenya’s capital of Nairobi when the pilot issued a distressed call and lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after.
Although the details of the distress call have yet to be revealed, the airline’s Chief Executive Tewolde Gebremariam said the pilot was given clearance to return to Addis Ababa.
The airline’s Chief Executive at the crash site on Sunday.
An emergency crew and senior staff were sent to the crash site around the Bishoftu area where they were unable to locate any survivors, the CEO confirmed in an online statement.
There were 149 passengers and eight crew members on the plane – 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Chinese, eight Italians, eight Americans, seven French, seven British, six Egyptians, five Germans, four Indians, four Slovakians, three Austrians, three Russians, three Swedes, two Spanish, two Israelis, two Moroccans, two Polish, as well as a Belgian, Djibouti, Indonesian, Irish, Mozambican, Norwegian, Rwandan, Saudi, Sudanese, Somali, Serbian, Togolese, Ugandan, Yemeni, Nepalese and Nigerian.
Accident Bulletin no. 4
Issued on March 10, 2019 at 06:20 PM pic.twitter.com/685uGE6izJ— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 10, 2019
In his address to media on Sunday, Gebremariam said it was too soon to determine the cause of the crash, but stressed that the aircraft had undergone routine maintenance and showed no signs of any problems.
“It’s a brand-new airplane, well maintained.”
Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive
He continued, saying that the plane had flown more than 1,200 hours and was a “very clean airplane”.
A full investigation will be carried out in collaboration with Boeing, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and other international entities.
The Chief Executive also noted that the Senior Captain named Yared Getachew was an experienced employee who had worked with the airline for nine years and had accumulated over 800 hours of flying.
Ethiopian Airlines Group press conference on flight ET 302 accident
Posted by Ethiopian Airlines on Sunday, March 10, 2019
Families of the crash victims were contacted by the carrier on Sunday. Gebremariam expressed his deepest condolences and said a committee was set up to help identify the deceased.
“Ethiopian Airlines will provide the necessary support to the families of the victims.”
Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive