Plane on fire before it crashed, says witness
ADDIS ABABA: Investigators probing the deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 that plunged into a field in a ball of flames were to comb the wreckage yesterday for clues to the cause of the disaster.
The brand new MAX 8 plane — one of Boeing's flagship aircraft — come down on Sunday just six minutes into its flight to Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board.
Eight crew and 149 passengers from 35 countries perished when Flight ET 302 smashed into a field, 60km southeast of the capital here, leaving a huge crater.
“The plane was on fire when it crashed to the ground. It caused a big explosion,” said Tegegn Dechasa at the site, littered with passenger belongings, human remains and airplane parts.
“The plane was in flames in its rear side shortly before the crash. It was swerving erratically before the crash.”
Farmer Sisay Gemechu, said: “The plane seemed to be aiming to land at a nearby level open field, but crashed before reaching there.”
Among the dead were tourists, business travellers and United Nations staff, including those working for the World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the international Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Many were headed for an annual assembly of the UN Environment Programme, which opened in Nairobi yesterday.
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s biggest carrier, said the search of the crash site had been suspended overnight, but would resume in daylight.
The United States National Transportation Safety Board said it would send investigators to assist, and Canada said consular officials were “immediately deployed” to determine the facts.
Ethiopia’s Parliament declared a national day of mourning yesterday amid a global stream of condolences.
“Deeply saddened by the news this morning of the plane crash in Ethiopia, claiming the lives of all on board,” tweeted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Slovak lawmaker Anton Hrnko was among the bereaved.
“It is with deep sorrow that I announce that my dear wife, Blanka, son Martin and daughter Michala, died in the air disaster in Addis Ababa this morning,” he wrote on Facebook.
The Boeing 737-800MAX was new, delivered to state-owned Ethiopian Airways on Nov 15.
The plane is the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
Ethiopian Airlines said the plane had taken off at 8.38am on Sunday from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” six minutes later.
According to the airline, Kenya had the largest number of casualties with 32, followed by Canada with 18, Ethiopia nine, then Italy, China, and the US, with eight each. Britain and France each had seven people on board, Egypt six, and Germany five — though the breakdown was not final.
Ethiopian Airlines chief executive officer Tewolde GebreMariam said the plane had flown in from Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday, spent three hours here, and was “despatched with no remark”, meaning no problems were flagged.
Later, investigators recovered both black box recorders of the plane near the crash site.
“The Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder of ET 302 have been recovered,” the airline announced on Twitter.