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The Hull family of a man who is among the 157 people killed on board an Ethiopian Airlines plane which crashed on Sunday have spoken of their shock and devastation.

Joseph Waithaka, 55, moved to Hull around 15 years ago before moving back to his native Kenya in 2015. But his wife and children still live in Hull and he was on his way back to Kenya from a visit to the city when tragedy struck.

Flight ET302, which was en-route to Nairobi, came down six minutes after it took off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city.

A total of 149 passengers and eight crew members are reported to have been on board and it has been confirmed there were no survivors.

(Image: Submitted)

Mr Waithaka’s son, Ben Kuria, grew up in Hull before moving to London. He said: “The Kenyan authorities have confirmed my dad was on board the Ethiopian flight.

“He came to my flat in London on Saturday night on his way to Heathrow from Hull and we had a meal together.

“He called me later to say he had boarded his flight at 8pm and I said ‘see you later’.

“When I woke up on Sunday I saw a message on my news app about the airline crash.

(Image: AP)

“I quickly put two and two together as I knew there were not many flights between Ethiopia and Kenya on a Sunday.

“I rang round different places and it was finally confirmed by the Kenyan authorities that my dad was on board and there were no survivors.”

Mr Kuria admits the loss of his dad has yet to sink in. He said: “It is really surreal as he was in my flat just a few hours before and we were having a meal together. It has been such a weird day.

“It is jolting and I am still in shock to be honest. It happened thousands of miles away and I am still trying to make sense of everything.

(Image: Submitted)

“The whole family is devastated and my mum is really upset.”

Mr Waithaka worked for the probation service during his time in Hull and had a passion for helping people get back on track. Mr Kuria said: “He lived in Hull for 10 years before moving back to Kenya in 2015.

“It was a difficult start to his time in the UK but he quickly settled in Hull and worked at various nursing homes.

“He became a volunteer with Humbercare which opened the door for him to get a job with the Probation Service supervising those carrying out unpaid work as part of a Community Service Order.

(Image: AP)

“He helped so many people in Hull who had found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

“My dad was a private man but he also had a pastoral heart. He really championed people. He really helped people realised their potential.

“He would tell stories which would inspire the young people he was helping who were not at a great time in their lives.

“As a father he was very protective and he really wanted us to do well. He supported us and ensured we got stuck into our education. He really rooted for his children.”

(Image: AP)

Mr Waithaka leaves behind wife Jane, his sons Ben and Joshua and daughter Zipporah.

There were nationals from at least 35 different countries on the plane, including seven from the UK. An Irish passenger was also aboard the aircraft, officials said.

Ethiopian Airlines said it had contacted victims' families, but that it was still working to confirm the identities of those onboard.

The British ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr Alastair McPhail, said his team were working hard in response to the "tragic crash".

(Image: AP)

The aircraft had been expected to arrive in Kenya's capital less than two hours after take-off. It was a Boeing 737 800 Max - the same model as the Lion Air plane that crashed in Indonesia last October, killing 189.

Speaking of the latest tragedy, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said the plane's captain told controllers at Bole airport he was having difficulty and wanted to return.

The plane "had unstable vertical speed" shortly after take off, Swedish flight-tracking website flightradar24 said. "Data from Flightradar24 ADS-B network show that vertical speed was unstable after take off,” the Swedish-based flight tracking organisation said on its Twitter feed.

Slovakian MP Anton Hrnko said his wife and two children were killed in the crash, while hospitality company Tamarind Group said its chief executive Jonathan Seex also died.

(Image: AP)

The cause of the crash is not yet known.

The Max model is the newest version of Boeing’s workhorse 737 model, the world’s most popular commercial airline.

Following the crash of Lion Air flight 610 in Indonesia, Boeing issued an emergency notice that an erroneous sensor input could “cause the flight crew to have difficulty controlling the airplane,” leading to “possible impact with terrain.”

The aircraft had flown from Johannesburg to Addis earlier on Sunday morning, and had undergone a "rigorous" testing on February 4, Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement. It also said senior captain Yared Getachew had a "commendable performance" having completed more than 8,000 hours in the air.

(Image: AP)

In a later statement, the airline added: "Following the tragic accident on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302/10 March, which claimed the lives of 149 passengers and 8 crew on board, Ethiopian has teamed up with all stakeholders concerned to conduct forensic investigations and identify the identities of the victims.

"A committee comprising of Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, and Ethiopian Transport Authority has been set up to carry out the investigations."

A Boeing spokeswoman told Mirror Online that the company "is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the passengers and crew on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a 737 MAX 8 airplane".

She said: "We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew on board and stand ready to support the Ethiopian Airlines team.

"A Boeing technical team is prepared to provide technical assistance at the request and under the direction of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.”

State-owned Ethiopian Airlines is one of the biggest carriers on the continent by fleet size with roughly 100 planes. It said previously that it expected to carry 10.6 million passengers last year.

Its last major crash was in January 2010, when a flight from Beirut went down shortly after take-off.

The airline has over 100 destinations worldwide, including flights to Washington DC, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

UK investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch are likely to be communicating with their counterparts in Ethiopia to keep next-of-kin informed.

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