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Ethiopia\u2019s state broadcaster said all passengers aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 157 were dead, after the plane crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday morning from Ethiopia\u2019s capital while headed to Nairobi.<\/p>\nEthiopia\u2019s state broadcaster said all passengers aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 157 were dead, after the plane crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday morning from Ethiopia\u2019s capital while headed to Nairobi.<\/p>\n
There were no immediate details on what caused the crash of the Boeing 737-8 MAX plane, which was new and had been delivered to the airline in November.
\nThe state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, widely considered the best-managed airline in Africa, calls itself Africa\u2019s largest carrier and has ambitions of becoming the gateway to the continent.<\/p>\n
The airline\u2019s statement said 149 passengers and eight crew members were thought to be on the plane that crashed six minutes after departing Addis Ababa on its way to Kenya\u2019s capital. The crash occurred around Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, at 8:44A.M. The passengers aboard the flight were from 33 countries, the state broadcaster said.<\/p>\n
While the airline said \u201csearch and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible casualties,\u201d a separate statement by the Ethiopian prime minister\u2019s office offered its \u201cdeepest condolences\u201d to families.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board,\u201d Kenya\u2019s President Uhuru Kenyatta said, as many Kenyans braced for the worst.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In October, another Boeing 737-8 MAX plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia\u2019s capital, killing all 189 people on board. The cockpit data recorder showed that the jet\u2019s airspeed indicator had malfunctioned on its last four flights, though Lion Air initially claimed that problems with the aircraft had been fixed.<\/p>\n
The last deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was in 2010, when the plane crashed minutes after takeoff from Beirut killing all 90 people on board.<\/p>\n