Panafrican News Agency

Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed when pilots failed to recover the airplane from ‘nose diving’ - Report

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - A preliminary report released Thursday on the accident of Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed just after taking off from Addis Ababa on March 10th indicates that two pilots on command followed Boeing recommended and approved emergency procedures on the airplane.

A statement issued by the airline also indicates that despite pilots' hard work and full compliance with the emergency procedure, it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nose diving.

"As investigation continues with more detailed analysis, as usual, we will continue with our full cooperation with the investigation team," the statement said.

Commenting on the preliminary report, Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said: “We are proud of our pilots' compliances to follow the emergency procedure and high level of professionalism performances in such extremely difficult situations”.

The Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed just after taking off from Addis Ababa on March 10, killing all 157 on board.

The latest report was based on data from the recorders of the Boeing 737 Max 8.

Boeing declined to comment pending its review of the report.

The Max 8 has been under scrutiny since a Lion Air flight crashed off the coast of Indonesia under similar circumstances in October.

In the meanwhile, further investigators are looking into the role of a flight-control system known by its acronym, MCAS, which under some circumstances can automatically lower the plane’s nose to prevent an aerodynamic stall, it said.

 

-0-   PANA    TWA/RA   4Apr2019