Ethiopian CEO speaks out

ETHIOPIAN Airlines Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam has released an official statement following the tragic accident of flight 302 on 10 Mar (TD 11 Mar), confirming the carrier will “pledge to work with Boeing and our colleagues in all the airlines to make air travel even safer”.

The statement, which features comments by GebreMariam on the heartbreak of the families involved and how the airline “carries a torch for the Ethiopian brand around the world”, reaffirmed the carrier’s commitment to uncovering the truth behind the accident and its continued faith in the aircraft manufacturer.

“Let me be clear: Ethiopian Airlines believes in Boeing,” GebreMariam said.

“They have been a partner of ours for many years, more than two-thirds of our fleet is Boeing... despite the tragedy, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to be linked well into the future.”

GebreMariam affirmed that its pilots were all trained on the MAX 8 aircraft, with the GM stating that it “went beyond” the required training.

“Administration called for computer-based training, but we went beyond that...after the Lion Air accident in Oct, our pilots who fly the Boeing 737 MAX 8 were fully trained on the service bulletin issued by Boeing and the Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued by the USA FAA,” he said.

“We are the only airline in Africa among the very few in the world with the B-737 MAX full flight simulator...our pilots who fly the new model were trained on all appropriate simulators.”

Investigations into the crash continue.