The manufacturer is already reeling from the decisions by Ethiopia, China and Indonesia to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, which is Boeing’s best-selling model. A similar model was involved in a crash in Indonesia in October 2018 that killed 189 people.
157 people died on Sunday morning after the Boeing 737-800 MAX, ET302 aircraft crashed in Bishoftu some 50 kilometers from, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, moments after takeoff from Bole International Airport on its way to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The airlines’ CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told journalists that the pilot reported difficulties and made a request to turn back to Addis Ababa.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who declared Monday a day of national mourning, assured the public that information from investigators of the incident will be communicated immediately. Boeing confirmed that a technical team was dispatched to provide technical assistance to both the Ethiopian Accident Investigation Bureau and US National Transportation Safety Board.
The company is yet to issue a statement in the wake of reports by Ethiopian state TV that the aircraft’s black box was discovered by investigators at the crash site.
