Ethiopian Airlines Crash Kills All Onboard, Including 8 Americans

On Sunday morning, 157 people perished on an Ethiopian Airlines flight in Addis Ababa. The plane crashed 31 miles south of Addis Ababa at 8:44 a.m.

The Boeing 737-8 MAX plane crashed six minutes after takeoff for Nairobi killing everyone on board which held people from more than 30 nations, including 8 Americans.

It’s not clear what caused the crash though the pilot sent out a distress call and was provided clearance to return, the airline’s CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, told reporters.

“Tewolde Gebremariam, who is at the accident scene now, regrets to confirm that there are no survivors,” an Ethiopian Airlines post on Twitter said. “He expresses his profound sympathy and condolences to the families and loved ones of passengers and crew who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”

Accident Bulletin no. 2
Issued on march 10, 2019 at 01:46 PM pic.twitter.com/KFKX6h2mxJ

— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 10, 2019

Family members descended upon the airport to find out if their loved ones were on the plane, though many are having to wait to find out of their fate.

“I came to the airport to receive my brother but I have been told there is a problem,” Agnes Muilu said. “I just pray that he is safe or he was not on it.”

”Why are they taking us round and round, it is all over the news that the plane crashed,” said Edwin Ong’undi, who had been waiting for his sister. “All we are asking for is information to know about their fate.”

The Ethiopian prime minister’s office shared their “deepest condolences” with the families of those who died.

“My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board,” Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

The Boeing 737-8 MAX was a brand new plane delivered to Ethiopian Airlines in mid-November and had its last maintenance check on February 4. The pilot was also a senior staff member, having joined the airline in 2010.

It’s currently too early to determine a cause of the crash, though a team from the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States is heading to Ethiopia to work with authorities and officials from Boeing to determine what occurred.

The last deadly Ethiopian crash occurred in 2010 when a plane took off from Beirut and crashed, killing 90 on board. The Lion Air flight that plunged into the Java Sea was the most recent of tragic Boeing crashes, until this morning.