Ethiopian Airlines is one of the leading Airlines of Africa with the fastest aircraft and well-trained pilots. Last week it met an unfortunate accident that shocked everyone. An Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 crashed and killed 149 passengers and eight crew members on the spot. The plane crashed in just few minutes after the take-off from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian Capital’s airport. The flight was to land at Nairobi in Kenya. The flight-tracking website claimed that the plane was not too old and it was first operated in October 2018.
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What caused the accident?
The cause of the plane crash is yet not clear. some sources says that the pilot of the plane reported some issues to ATC and also requested to return back to Addis Ababa.
The eyewitness said, The plane caught fire in the air and it tried to land safely in an open ground but as soon as it reached the ground there was an intense blast. The fire was too strong that no one could even manage to go near and check for the survivors.
Who were the passengers of the unfortunate flight?
The dead people were tourists, the UN staff, business travellers. Some were the workers of World Food Program and the International Organization for Migration. The flight was carrying passengers from more than 30 countries. Among the passengers were 32 Kenyan, 18 Canadians, 9 Ethiopians, 8 Chinese, 8 American, 7 French citizens, 6 British citizens, and 5 Germans. It carried 4 Slovakian and 4 Indian. 3 passengers from Austria and 3 from Sweden and Russian and 2 passengers from Spain, Morocco, Poles, and Israel. Beside this, 1 passenger each from Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Belgium , Djibouti, Ireland ,Indonesia, Somalia, Serbia, Norway, Sudan, Uganda, Yemen, Togo, Mozambique, and Rwanda. It is also believed that some passengers could have been travelling to attend UN Environment Assembly session in Nairobi.
Soon after the Disaster, the Ethiopian Airlines CEO said the plane had flown from Johannesburg and rested for three hours in Addis Ababa. It was examined and no problem was identified before take-off. He also said that we cannot attribute the cause of anything because we will have to comply with the international regulation to wait for the investigation.
A Committee Comprising of Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopian Transport Authority, and Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority has set up to carry out the investigation. An International Investigation team is also examining the site of the plane crash and are keenly looking for evidence to provide clues behind the disaster and are also trying to recover the remains of the dead ones.
On Wednesday the families of the victims gathered at the site of the crash carrying flowers and candle to pay tribute to their loved ones. Most of the people still hope to recover their dead ones remain to offer their final ritual or burials but it seems impossible in the unfortunate event.
Why are countries suspending the operation of Boeing’s 737 MAX?
Boeing 737 MAX, a jet by Boeing Commercial Airplanes is under criticism nowadays as most of the countries are grounding Boeing jets. 737 Max started its operation all around the world in May 2017 after gaining a certificate from the US Federal Aviation Authority in March 2017. There are nearly 387 Boeing 737 Max planes currently working all over the world which are operated by a total of 59 airlines. Some countries have opted to ground the plane while some are continuing to fly without any decision to suspend its operation.
Countries are grounding Boeing 737 Max
Many airlines and regulatory authorities have also suspended the operation of this aircraft as a precautionary measure and not to endanger any further lives after two Boeing’s 737 planes crashed in less than 6 months killing all the passengers and crew members on board. The first crash happened with the Indonesian Airlines’ Plane that crashed in October 2018. The same type of plane crashed on 10th March 2019. Both the planes crashed few minutes after take-off. This is a point of concern for all the aviation authorities. At this point, a lot of questions have arisen and people around the world are asking if there is actually any technical problem with these planes or the crash happened due to the untrained pilots.
Some sources also claimed that The Ethiopian airline jet
crash and the Lion Airline Jet Crash, both had some similarities.
Global Backlash to Boeing 737
Some of the countries have placed a temporary ban on the
aircraft jet to ensure aviation safety measures and protect the public from any
further mishap. The investigation in Boeing 737 Max Crash is still pending and
possible guidance from the aircraft itself is not yet provided.
On Tuesday Singapore
announced that it has suspended the operation of all Boeing 737 Max planes from
operating. China, a huge and important market for US aircraft company which
also accounts to nearly one-fifth of worldwide deliveries of Boeing 737 models
have also announced to banned the operation of these jets. They will only
resume after confirming the relevant flight safety measures.
Besides this, countries like
Mongolia, South Korea, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina aviation authorities
have also refused to fly Boeing 737 jets. Ethiopian airlines have also opted to
ground the particular fleet as a safety precaution.
Wednesday morning too arose with more bad news for the
Boeing Aircrafts when countries like Hong Kong, India,
Russia, and Fiji also asked their aviation
authorities to stop operating all Boeing 737 planes citing the two accidents.
Soon after, New Zealand too joined the worldwide
suspension of Boeing Max 737 Planes.
Countries that recently suspended Boeing 737 Max operation
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notification
for Boeing 737 MAX explaining that they are supporting the current investigation of the aircraft and all data will be closely examined. They will take appropriate
action if the data indicates the need to
do so.
FAA also claimed that External reports are drawing
similarities between Ethiopian Airline crash and Lion Airline flight. However, it also announced that they are not
going to ground the planes as a precaution and will only do if they will find
out something new.
However, Canada and
America were among those few countries that were still flying Boeing 737 MAX but on Wednesday afternoon the two also announced
to ground all planes from their airspace following safety notice. It means more than half of the 737 Max
operations have been suspended all around the world.
On Wednesday Afternoon
US president announced that FAA will issue a notice to temporarily ground all the Boeing jets from flying in US airspace. This has caused Boeing’s
Market plunge and this crisis has wiped more
than $25 billion from the Boeing’s Market value.
