Ethiopian Airlines crash: Crew followed Boeing's procedures but could not regain control of plane
Ethiopian Airlines crashes killing over 150
Ethiopia’s minister of transport delivered the first official report on the airplane disaster and stated that the Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed proper procedures when their Boeing MAX 8 airplane repeatedly nosedived before a March 10 crash that killed 157 people, news agency Reuters reported.
"The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft," Dagmawit Moges told a news conference in Addis Ababa earlier today.
"Since repetitive uncommanded aircraft nose down conditions are noticed ... it is recommended that the aircraft control system shall be reviewed by the manufacturer," Moges added.
Moges stated thatsafety in the air is a major objective of the first official report, "not to blame someone".
"All in all, the major objective of this investigation is to make sure that there is safety in the aviation sector. It's not to blame someone, it's not to get some sort of, there are some things we are going to do it as something very normal, following the procedures. But of all the things, the result of this report is going to help us to assure safety in the aviation sector. So as a government, we're committed to working on that and we'll try to make sure that we're going to get the best that we could, to make all the people of the world safe in their aviation movement,"Moges said.
The preliminary report did not attribute blame, it didn't give a detailed analysis of the flight and cleared the pilots of using incorrect procedures, issuing two recommendations directed at planemaker Boeing and the regulators.A final report on the crash is due within a year.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam on Thursday said that he is proud of their pilots' efforts in trying to stop their jet from crashing, news agency AFP reported.
GebreMariam repeated condolences to the families of the 157 people who died.
"We are very proud of our pilots' compliances to follow the emergency procedures, and high level of professional performances in such extremely difficult situations," GebreMariam's statement noted.
"All of us at Ethiopian Airlines are still going through deep mourning for the loss of our loved ones, and we would like to express our deep sympathy and condolences for the families, relatives and friends of the victims," he added.
As many as 157 people died aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on route to Nairobi from Addis Ababa crashed last month.
People from 33 nationalities were on board flight ET 302, which crashed near the town of Bishoftu, 45 kilometres (27 miles) southeast of the Ethiopian capital. All aboard were killed leaving no survivors.
The crash led to a global grounding of 737 MAX jets and scrutiny of its certification process.
(With inputs from agencies)