Ethiopian Air ET302, Boeing 737 crashes - 157 souls - 10 March 2019

[Justice101]

Gebeyehu Fikadu, an eyewitness to Sunday's fatal crash about two-hour drive south of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, told CNN that the plane was "swerving and dipping" and belching smoke as it came down.

"I was in the mountain nearby when I saw the plane reach the mountain before turning around with a lot of smoke coming from the back and then crashed at this site," said the 25-year-old, who was collecting firewood on the mountain with three other locals when it happened.

"It crashed with a large boom. When it crashed luggage and clothes came burning down.

"Before it crashed the plane was swerving and dipping with a lot of smoke coming from the back and also making a very loud unpleasant sound before hitting the ground."

All 157 people on board the flight died in the accident.

Live updates: Ethiopian Airlines 737 plane crashes, killing everyone on board - CNN

Take that account with a grain of sand. Eyewitness accounts are the lowest level of proof.

 

[MsFacetious]

Take that account with a grain of sand. Eyewitness accounts are the lowest level of proof.

Always take a video! Plane, Bigfoot or Aliens. Take a video.

 

[JanetElaine]

I have a lot of respect for Ms. Schiavo from MH370 I wish she was in charge and had the authority to ground these dangerous aircraft.

I second that... I really hope more airlines will wake up in the next day or so and ground their Max's. I'm disgusted by the apparent lack of concern by, well, whoever has the authority to do something about this design fault/keep people safe until something is done. Boeing, airlines, anyone else? I really wish Ms. Schiavo could say "nope, those planes are not flying", I know she doesn't have that authority, but I sure wish she did!

 

[gregjrichards]

I am outraged at the U.S authorities FAA and U.S airlines response to this second Boeing 737-8 Max tragedy. It’s like they are saying well the plane hasn’t crashed in the States yet so it must be safe. I hope the public kick up a h*ll and refuse to fly on it till the problem has been fully addressed. It is disgraceful putting $$$$ before people’s lives.

 

[JudgeJudi]

US Senator Richard Blumenthal has called on US authorities to ground all 737 MAX 8s "until the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) can assure American travelers that these planes are safe."

The FAA declined to ground the jets in the US, saying investigators have not yet determined whether the issue with the Ethiopian Airlines jet is related to the issue that brought down the the same type of plane operated by Lion Air in Indonesia last year.

"This investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions," the FAA said.

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: Live updates - CNN

 

[JudgeJudi]

Singapore's aviation authority has taken the strong move of suspending "all variants of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of Singapore."

The suspension will start at 2 p.m., the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore announced on Tuesday morning. The move will affect SilkAir, a regional carrier in the city-state, and the following airlines that fly into Singapore and have the 737 MAX in their fleets: China Southern Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Shandong Airlines and Thai Lion Air.

Singapore Airlines does not have any 737 MAX 8 planes.

The decision comes as Aerolíneas Argentinas announced it was grounding its five Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes. Argentina's national carrier said the decision had been "taken after the technical reports” following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The following is a current list of airlines and jurisdictions that have suspended use of the 737 MAX 8:

• Ethiopian Airlines
• China
• Indonesia
• Aeromexico
• Cayman Airways
• Comair
• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Singapore

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: Live updates - CNN

 

[gregjrichards]

US Senator Richard Blumenthal has called on US authorities to ground all 737 MAX 8s "until the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) can assure American travelers that these planes are safe."

The FAA declined to ground the jets in the US, saying investigators have not yet determined whether the issue with the Ethiopian Airlines jet is related to the issue that brought down the the same type of plane operated by Lion Air in Indonesia last year.

"This investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions," the FAA said.

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: Live updates - CNN

Senator Feinstein wants the planes grounded too. I don’t think it is unreasonable to ground the aircraft until it is determined what happened but understand the resistance due to the billions of dollars involved. I think the pilot and aircrew unions are going to have to speak out. I hope the information from the flight data recorders is revealed soon and more airlines ground their planes. Boeing must be very concerned right now.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has temporarily suspended airlines from flying all Boeing 737 MAX jets to or from Australia.

"This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 MAX to and from Australia," said Shane Carmody CASA CEO.

No Australian airlines fly the 737 MAX, CASA said, but two foreign carriers had previously flown the aircraft into the country -- Singapore's SilkAir and Fiji Airways.

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: latest updates - CNN

 

[Jax49]

Boeing 737 MAX 8: Which airlines are still flying the same model of plane? - CNN

There are approximately 350 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in operation worldwide, being flown by 54 operators, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

 

[Justice101]

If it takes a month to at least get the flight data recorder information to rule out the same trimming cause, it's worth it to ground them. If they are grounding them for 3 years until a final report is issued on the crash, I disagree.

Get a quick answer, rule in or rule out. If ruled in, then keep them grounded.

However, the FAA may already know that they have information from Ethiopia with (corroborated) eye witness accounts.

Let's ground for a month and see what can be found that is factual.

 

[squid]

UK becomes latest country to ground Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after Ethiopian Airlines crash

 

[PrairieWind]

How much disruption would grounding the Max cause airlines? Do they have other planes that could take the work load? Or will they just have to cancel flights?

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sen. Mitt Romney, in a tweet, is calling for the FAA to ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8. He’s the first Republican senator to say the aircraft that was involved in two recent crashes should be grounded.

He joins Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Dianne Feinstein.

Planes grounded after Ethiopian Airlines crash: Live updates - CNN

 

[squid]

Ethiopian Airlines crash: Live updates - CNN

The pilots of the doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight told air traffic control they were having “flight control problems” before the crash, airline CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told CNN’s Richard Quest Tuesday.

 

[Justice101]

Ethiopian Airlines crash: Live updates - CNN

The pilots of the doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight told air traffic control they were having “flight control problems” before the crash, airline CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told CNN’s Richard Quest Tuesday.

40% of crashes since 1990 are pilot error due to flight control issues.
Only 20% are straight mechanical failure that could not be overcome.

But I would still ground the MAX until early information from the flight data recorder can be seen

 

[PrairieWind]

Seems to be more witnesses on the ground saying they did see smoke and fire and several saying there was debris fall from it? Did a cargo door blow open? Not sure that would result in fire/smoke, but would explain debris.

Ethiopian plane smoked and shuddered before deadly plunge | Reuters

 

[Justice101]

Seems to be more witnesses on the ground saying they did see smoke and fire and several saying there was debris fall from it? Did a cargo door blow open? Not sure that would result in fire/smoke, but would explain debris.

I went to a pilots message board and they are leaning to the back door blown out of off or opened with debris hitting the back wing ailerons, a bomb or explosion of some sort, or a fire. Debris falling from the plane (papers reported by many) would mean there was a hole or opening in the body early on at low speed.

Again, this is totally speculator based only on eye witness accounts and some elevation data from FlightAware - the dropping and climbing (if true) would not be explained by any of these causes.

We all here just don't know. The good thing is that the authorities and experts investigating are all connected and will pass on critical information if it looks like it was another similar glide slope error causing pilots not knowing how to control.

I realize it doesn't matter to the people killed what the cause of the crash was.

 

[gregjrichards]

U.K, France, Germany, Ireland and Norwegian Air have all grounded the aircraft. When are the United States, Canada and Australia going to put safety first?

This is Boeing’s latest statement.

Boeing Statement on 737 MAX Operation

March 12, 2019 - Safety is Boeing’s number one priority and we have full confidence in the safety of the 737 MAX. We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets. We’ll continue to engage with them to ensure they have the information needed to have confidence in operating their fleets. The United States Federal Aviation Administration is not mandating any further action at this time, and based on the information currently available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators.

Boeing Statement on 737 MAX Operation

 

[margarita25]

Passengers have few options if they don't want to fly on a 737 MAX 8 plane

“Passengers do not have many options if they are booked on flights in the United States and learn that they will be on the same model of aircraft, the 737 MAX 8, that crashed in Ethiopia over the weekend. While passengers can always choose not to get on a plane if they feel unsafe, the two major US airlines that have 737 MAX 8 planes are not grounding those aircraft or changing their standard flight cancellation, change or refund policies.”

 

[squid]

'I don't want to be on a Boeing Max 8': Travelers worry as U.S. airlines stand by Boeing plane

Southwest has a variety of responses to concerned travelers, but they all make the same general point: We're standing by the plane.

"We remain confident in the safety of our fleet of more than 750 Boeing aircraft,'' the airline said in one response Monday morning. "Southwest has operated approximately 31,000 flights utilizing the Boeing 737 Max, and we plan on operating those aircraft going forward.''