A regular Sunday morning and everyone seems to be going about their normal routine until the new Boeing 737 Max-8 took off.
Six minutes after the takeoff, the aircraft pilot sent a distressing signal and was permitted to return to Addis Ababa.
Well, the seemingly short ride became a long ride back home with the unexpected crash of the Airline — all 149 passengers onboard plus eight crew members died.
No survivors! A sad day indeed.
The Crash — What you should know
The cause of the fatal plane crash is still unknown.
Things are getting complicated as the authorities of the Ethiopian airlines are unable to pinpoint to the primary reason for the crash.
According to the Airport authorities, the weather was reasonably okay, and the airplane was in good shape before the takeoff. The routine check showed no disturbing signs about the aircraft.
Could it be the pilot?
Well, there is no genuine reason to point fingers at the pilot as he was one of the best pilots in the airport.
Senior Captain Yared Getachew, the pilot of the airplane, has had an excellent record with over 8,000 hours of flight to his name.
Therefore, pointing fingers to such an experienced and respected pilot would be somewhat meaningless as records showed that he has grown beyond silly airplane mistakes.
Now, who’s to be blamed?
Someone has to take responsibility for this misfortune. The death of over 35 nationalities in a plane crash shouldn’t be a mystery.
One thing is clear — this is a familiar occurrence, and we’ve witnessed such a tragic incident in the past.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 is the best selling jet model of the Boeing company. The sales for the jets are all good, but things are beginning to take a wrong turn.
Less than five months ago, the Lion Air plane, a Boeing 737 Max 8 model, took a ride into the sea, killing all passengers on board.
Evidently, the similarities are not far fetched…
Same jet model.
The two airplanes are newly acquired.
The airplanes crashed a few minutes after takeoff.
All passengers and crew members on board were killed.
Awful! Isn’t it?
These two tragic events are not just a mere coincidence. Surely, there’s more to it.
The first crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 gave rise to a couple of questions, but with the second crash, lots of people are keeping a keen eye on the Boeing 737 Max 8 model.
The Consequences
This is a significant setback to Ethiopians and Africa at large.
In a continent where there are little to no aviation safety records, Ethiopian Airlines set a world standard by building the best and most sophisticated aviation hub in Africa.
The crash is all around bad news. And it may take Ethiopian Airlines quite sometime before they regain the crown as the safest aviation hub in Africa.
Also, reports coming in has shown that a couple of Airports has ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 from taking off.
The Chinese, Ethiopians, and the Cayman Airways have grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 for the meantime.
The reason is not far fetched as most Airline operators wouldn’t want to risk the lives of their customers on an aircraft whose degree of safety is unknown.