Spread the love

An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane bound for Kenya has crashed killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members.

An Ethiopian Airlines spokesman confirmed that the Boeing 737 plane had crashed on a routine flight from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to Nairobi on Sunday.

Ethiopia’s state broadcaster EBC reported everyone on the plane had died and that passengers included 33 nationalities, including 32 Kenyans and 17 Ethiopians.

The plane took off at 8:38am (0638 GMT) from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” six minutes later near Bishoftu, a town some 37 miles southeast of Addis Ababa.

The airline staff were being sent to the scene of the crash to “do everything possible to assist the emergency services.” It also plans to set up a passenger information centre and a dedicated telephone number for family and friends of people who may have been on board the flight.

A flight information board displaying the details of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 is seen at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi CREDIT: REUTERS

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted his “deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones”.

“My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board,” Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

In an earlier statement, the airline said: “We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in an accident today. It is believed that there were 149 passengers and eight crew on board the flight but we are currently confirming the details of the passenger manifest for the flight.”

What do we know about the plane?

Records show that the plane was new. The Planespotters civil aviation database shows that the Boeing 737-8 MAX was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines in mid-November.

The Boeing 737-8 MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea last October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital killing all 189 people on board.

What do we know about the airline?

The last major accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was a Boeing 737-800 that exploded after taking off from Lebanon in 2010, killing 83 passengers and seven crew.

The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, widely considered the best-managed airline in Africa, calls itself the Continent’s largest carrier and has ambitions of becoming the gateway to Africa.

It has been expanding assertively, recently opening a route to Moscow and in January inaugurating a new passenger terminal in Addis Ababa to triple capacity.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Prime Minister Ahmed challenged the airline to build a new “Airport City” terminal in Bishoftu – where Sunday’s crash occurred.

36 COMMENTS

  1. Hey are using WordPress for your site platform?
    I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create
    my own. Do you require any coding knowledge to make your own blog?
    Any help would be really appreciated!

  2. Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search
    Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for
    some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains.
    If you know of any please share. Cheers!

  3. Very good blog! Do you have any hints for aspiring writers?
    I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
    Would you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid
    option? There are so many choices out there
    that I’m completely overwhelmed .. Any suggestions?
    Many thanks! natalielise plenty of fish

  4. Hi I am so excited I found your weblog, I really found you by
    accident, while I was researching on Google for something else,
    Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say many thanks for
    a incredible post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look
    over it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to
    read a great deal more, Please do keep up the fantastic b.

  5. Excellent blog! Do you have any tips and hints
    for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my
    own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would
    you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option?
    There are so many options out there that I’m totally confused ..

    Any recommendations? Kudos!

  6. You are so cool! I don’t believe I have read through something like this before.

    So nice to discover someone with some original thoughts on this topic.
    Seriously.. thanks for starting this up. This website is one thing that
    is required on the web, someone with some originality!

  7. Howdy! I understand this is somewhat off-topic but I needed to
    ask. Does building a well-established website like yours require a lot of work?
    I am completely new to running a blog but I do write in my diary daily.

    I’d like to start a blog so I can share my own experience and
    feelings online. Please let me know if you have any kind of
    recommendations or tips for new aspiring blog owners.
    Appreciate it!

  8. Hi there, I found your blog by way of Google whilst searching for a similar topic, your site came
    up, it appears to be like great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

    Hi there, just became alert to your weblog via Google,
    and located that it is truly informative. I am going to watch out for
    brussels. I’ll appreciate should you continue this in future.
    Lots of folks will likely be benefited from your writing.
    Cheers!

  9. Good day! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post
    reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking
    about this. I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read.
    Thanks for sharing!

  10. Howdy! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site
    with us so I came to take a look. I’m definitely loving
    the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
    Great blog and outstanding design and style.

  11. What i do not realize is actually how you’re now not actually a lot
    more neatly-preferred than you might be now. You’re very intelligent.
    You realize therefore considerably with regards to this topic, made me personally imagine it
    from a lot of numerous angles. Its like men and women aren’t involved until it is something to do with Woman gaga!
    Your individual stuffs great. Always deal with it up!

  12. I just want to say I’m newbie to blogging and site-building and actually savored you’re blog site. Likely I’m planning to bookmark your site . You definitely come with good posts. Appreciate it for sharing your web page.

  13. I’m really loving the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A handful of my blog audience have complained about my blog not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any tips to help fix this problem?

  14. What’s Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to contribute & help other users like its aided me. Great job.

  15. One thing I’d prefer to touch upon is that weightloss routine fast can be performed by the right diet and exercise. A person’s size not only affects the look, but also the complete quality of life. Self-esteem, depression, health risks, and physical ability are afflicted in putting on weight. It is possible to make everything right and at the same time having a gain. If this happens, a medical problem may be the perpetrator. While an excessive amount food and never enough exercising are usually guilty, common health conditions and widespread prescriptions could greatly increase size. Thanks for your post in this article.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here