Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: 8 Chinese among 157 victims
149 passengers of more than 30 nationalities and eight crew died
An Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia’s capital on Sunday morning, killing all 157 on board, authorities said, as grieving families rushed to airports in Addis Ababa and the destination, Nairobi. Eight Chinese citizens are among the dead.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash of the Boeing 737-8 MAX plane, which was new and had been delivered to the airline in November. Its last maintenance was on Feb 4 and it had flown just 1,200 hours, according to the airline’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam.
He also told reporters that the pilot, who was a senior one and joined the airline in 2010, sent out a distress call and was given clearance to return.
The plane crashed six minutes after departing Addis Ababa on its way to Kenya’s capital, plowing into the ground at Hejere near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, about 50 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, at 8:44 am local time.
A tweet sent by Flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service that shows real-time commercial aircraft flight information on a map, said the plane recorded unstable vertical speed after takeoff.
The airline said 149 passengers and eight crew members were thought to be on the plane.
State broadcaster EBC reported that 33 nationalities were among the victims. Gebremariam said those included 32 Kenyans and nine Ethiopians. Authorities said other victims include 18 Canadians; eight each from China, the United States and Italy; seven each from France and Britain; six from Egypt; five from the Netherlands and four each from India and Slovakia.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted his condolences immediately. “The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.”
The Addis Ababa-Nairobi route links East Africa’s two largest economic powers and is popular with tourists making their way to safari and other destinations. Sunburned travelers and tour groups crowd the Addis Ababa airport’s waiting areas, along with businessmen from China and elsewhere.
One Chinese national, who said many Chinese prefer the flight due to its convenience to business travelers, said she was saddened and relieved at the same time. Cao Ran, who has been operating an insurance brokerage business in Nairobi for the last 10 months said she had changed her mind at the last minute and instead took a flight back on Friday. “Just a coincidence,” said the owner of Jiang Tai Insurance Brokers, adding that it was a business trip.
At the airport in Nairobi, worried families gathered.
“I came to the airport to receive my brother but I have been told there is a problem,” Agnes Muilu said. “I just pray that he is safe or he was not on it.”
Kenya’s transport minister, James Macharia, said that authorities had not yet received the passenger manifest. He said an emergency response had been set up for family and friends.
“My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board,” Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said.
In a statement, Boeing said it was “deeply saddened” to hear of the crash and that a technical team was ready to provide assistance at the request of the US National Transportation Safety Board.
In October, another Boeing 737-8 MAX plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, killing all 189 people on board the Lion Air flight. The cockpit data recorder showed that the jet’s airspeed indicator had malfunctioned on its last four flights, though Lion Air initially claimed that problems with the aircraft had been fixed.