What terrible news to wake up to this Sunday morning.
Today’s Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed shortly after takeoff. It crashed in the area of Bishoftu, around 30 miles from the airport.
We are following reports that Ethiopian Airlines flight #ET302 to Nairobi has crashed after take off from Addis Ababa.
Our coverage in the area is limited. We tracked the flight for about 3 minutes after take off.https://t.co/MtmnQk9sn4 pic.twitter.com/q7sCfmiCOd
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 10, 2019
The flight was operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with the registration code ET-AVJ. This was a brand new plane, that was just delivered to the airline in November 2018.
The plane was carrying 159 people, and unfortunately there are no survivors.
The weather in Addis Ababa was good at the time of the incident, with light winds and good visibility.
Flightradar24 notes that for the data they have on this short flight, it shows an unstable vertical speed.
Additional data from Flightradar24 ADS-B network show that vertical speed was unstable after take off.
Take off 05:38:18 UTC
Last position received by FR24 at 05:41:02 UTCPlease note that Addis Ababa airport is located at 7,625 feet AMSL. pic.twitter.com/Uyvfp1x9Xb
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 10, 2019
I think it goes without saying that for many people the Lion Air crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in October 2018 comes to mind. This flight also crashed after takeoff, and had unstable vertical speed (you can find the preliminary Boeing report here).
Obviously it’s too early to know what exactly happened. I know a lot of people are going to feel uncomfortable flying the 737 MAX 8 at this point.
I don’t think that’s necessarily unreasonable. We don’t have a full report of what happened for either flight, though we live in a day and age where commercial aviation is incredibly safe, and two planes have crashed in (what initially appears to be) very similar ways.
My thoughts are with the families and friends of those onboard. Here’s to hoping they can figure out what happened ASAP.
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.