Boeings grounded after crash

Airlines in Ethiopia, China and Indonesia grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets on Monday as investigators recovered the black boxes from a brand-new passenger jet that crashed outside Addis Ababa a day earlier, killing all 157 people on board.

The Nairobi-bound plane – the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew – smashed into a field just six minutes after takeoff as the pilot alerted controllers of difficulties.

Hopes were raised on Monday of finding answers for the deaths of people from 35 countries, including two dozen UN staff, that prompted Ethiopia to declare a day of mourning.

“After tedious search by the rescue and investigation team

. . . Ethiopian Airlines announces that the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of ET302 have been recovered,” the state-owned carrier said.

The airline, Africa’s largest, added it had grounded its fleet of six remaining Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes pending information assumed to be found from the black box data.

This followed on the heels of China, which ordered domestic airlines to suspend commercial operation of the jets.

There were eight Chinese nationals among the 149 passengers and eight crew on board the ill-fated flight.

Indonesia, which has 11 of the planes, said it would carry out inspections and temporarily prohibit Boeing 737 MAX 8 from flying.

Boeing has described the MAX series as its fastest-selling airplane ever, with more than 5,000 orders placed to date from about 100 customers.

The plane that crashed on Sunday was less than four months old.

On Monday Comair‚ which operates in SA as British Airways and low-cost carrier kulula.com‚ and took delivery of its first of eight Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in February, said it had grounded its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This was despite the fact that neither regulatory authorities nor the manufacturer haD required it to do so‚ Comair airline division executive director Wrenelle Stander said.

Comair said it remained confident in the inherent safety of the aircraft, but had decided not to schedule the aircraft while it consulted with other operators‚ Boeing and technical experts.

The jet fell near the village of Tulu Fara, about 60km east of Addis Ababa.

Witness Tegegn Dechasa said the plane was already on fire when it crashed to the ground, causing an explosion.

“The plane seemed to be aiming to land at a nearby level open field, but crashed before reaching there,” farmer Sisay Gemechu said.

As inhabitants of the remote part of Ethiopia looked on from behind a security cordon, inspectors pursued their search for plane debris, passenger belongings and human remains on Monday.

The single-aisle Boeing left a deep, black crater at the impact site, which was being dug up with a mechanical excavator.

As Ethiopia prepared to receive loved ones seeking victims’ remains and belongings, a UN gathering in Nairobi opened under a shadow on Monday.

At least 22 staff from different UN agencies were on the flight, many headed for an annual assembly of the UN Environment Programme.

Delegates arrived with the UN flag flying at half-mast, hugging and comforting one another.

“Let us reflect that our colleagues were willing to travel and to work far from their homes and loved ones to make the world a better place to live,” UN-Habitat head Maimunah Sharif said.

Pope Francis added his voice on Monday to the global outpouring of condolences from the UN, Western and African leaders, offering prayers.

Kenya had the highest death toll on the flight with 32, according to the airline.

Canada followed with 18 victims, including Nigerianborn author Pius Adesanmi, who directed the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University.

Nine Ethiopians were among the victims, with eight each from Italy and the US.

The airline said Britain and France each had seven people on board, Egypt six, and Germany five.

An Ethiopian Airlines CEO said the plane had flown in from Johannesburg early on Sunday, spent three hours in Addis Ababa and was despatched with no remark, meaning no problems were flagged. – AFP, Additional reporting by Ernest Mabuza