Before reading the article:



On March 10, a jetliner bound for Nairobi, Kenya, crashed shortly after leaving Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board — the second deadly crash in under five months involving the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

First, read this excerpt from a Times article about the victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302:

The flight route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, to Nairobi, Kenya, is sometimes referred to as a “U.N. shuttle” because of how often United Nations staff members take it. On Sunday, when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 plummeted to the ground shortly after takeoff, killing more than 150 people, the plane had a particularly high concentration of United Nations employees: At least 22 staff members died in the crash, a United Nations official said on Monday. The airline said the flight had passengers from at least 30 countries, some of whom were aid workers for other humanitarian organizations. The dead included at least 32 Kenyans; 18 Canadians; nine each from Ethiopia and France; eight each from the United States, China and Italy; and seven from Britain, according to the airline, officials and news accounts.

Then watch this two-minute video, “Aftermath of Deadly Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crash.”

• What facts are known about the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302?

• Why are investigators looking into the model of the aircraft as a possible cause of the crash?

Now, read the article, “What We Know and Don’t Know About the Ethiopian Plane Crash,” and answer the following questions:

1. What are some initial possible causes for the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302?

2. What challenges do investigators face determining the cause of a crash? How long can investigations take?