Ethiopian Airlines: 'No survivors' on crashed Boeing 737 Published duration 10 March 2019 Related Topics Ethiopian Airlines crash

media caption The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza, at the scene, said there was a huge hole at the point of impact

An Ethiopian Airlines jet has crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all on board.

The airline said 149 passengers and eight crew members were on flight ET302 from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya.

It said 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were among the passengers.

The crash happened at 08:44 local time, six minutes after the months-old Boeing 737 Max-8 took off.

Another plane of the same model was involved in a crash less than five months ago, when a Lion Air flight crashed into the sea near Indonesia with nearly 190 people on board.

Do we know how it happened?

The cause of the disaster is not yet clear. However, the pilot had reported difficulties and had asked to return to Addis Ababa, the airline said.

"At this stage, we cannot rule out anything," Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told reporters at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.

"We cannot also attribute the cause to anything because we will have to comply with the international regulation to wait for the investigation."

image copyright Jonathan Druion image caption The Boeing 737 Max-8 aircraft that crashed on Sunday

An eyewitness at the scene told the BBC there was an intense fire as the aircraft hit the ground.

"The blast and the fire were so strong that we couldn't get near it," he said. "Everything is burnt down."

Recovery operations were under way near the crash site around the town of Bishoftu, which is 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital.

The plane was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines on 15 November last year. It underwent a "rigorous first check maintenance" on 4 February, the airline tweeted.

Who are the victims?

Mr Gebremariam told the news conference that passengers from more than 30 countries were on board the flight.

He said they included 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, seven Britons, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Germans, four Indians and four people from Slovakia.

media caption Son of Ethiopian Airlines passenger: "I'm still in shock"

Slovak MP Anton Hrnko later confirmed via Facebook that his wife and two children were on the plane.

Three Austrians, three Swedes, three Russians, two Moroccans, two Spaniards, two Poles and two Israelis were also on the flight.

image copyright Ethiopian Airlines image caption Ethiopian Airlines shared this image of CEO Tewolde Gebremariam at the crash site

There was also one passenger each from Ireland, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Belgium, Indonesia, Somalia, Norway, Serbia, Togo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen.

One person held a UN passport, the airline said. It believed some passengers could have been heading to a session of the UN Environment Assembly which begins in Nairobi on Monday.

A UN source also told Agence France-Presse that "at least a dozen of the victims were affiliated with the UN", and that this may include freelance translators.

World Food Programme executive director David Beasley said seven members of agency staff had died in the crash.

Among them was engineer Michael Ryan, a father of two, from Cork, Ireland . Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar said Mr Ryan had been "doing life-changing work in Africa".

One of the Canadian victims was named as Prof Pius Adesanmi, an expert in African studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

The plane's First Officer Ahmed Nur Mohammod Nur had 200 flight hours, it added.

What reaction has there been?

Ethiopia has declared Monday a national day of mourning.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of the crash, adding: "We join the international community in mourning the loss of so many lives."

UK PM Theresa May tweeted her condolences:

António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, also tweeted about the crash.

African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed "utter shock and immense sadness" while Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said he was "saddened".

image copyright Reuters image caption Relatives waiting at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, were devastated by the news

Mahboub Maalim, executive secretary of the East African bloc Igad, said the region was in mourning.

"I cannot seem to find words comforting enough to the families and friends of those who might have lost their lives in this tragedy," he said in a statement.

What do we know about the plane?

The 737 Max-8 aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having only been in commercial use since 2017.

Following the Lion Air crash last October, investigators said the pilots had appeared to struggle with an automated system designed to keep the plane from stalling - a new feature of the Boeing 737 Max.

The anti-stalling system repeatedly forced the plane's nose down, despite efforts by pilots to correct this, findings suggest.

There is no suggestion that the Ethiopian Airlines jet suffered similar issues on Sunday.

What about the airline's safety record?

Ethiopian Airlines flies to many destinations in Africa, making it a popular carrier in a continent where many airlines fly only from their home country to destinations outside Africa.

It has a good reputation for safety, although in 2010 one of the company's aeroplanes crashed in the Mediterranean Sea shortly after leaving Beirut.

The incident killed 90 people on board.

The airline's highest fatalities prior to this came in a November 1996 crash during a hijacking on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.