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

[gregjrichards]

CAL suspends Max 8 operations

In the wake of the tragic loss of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019, which was being operated by a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, Cayman Airways extends its condolences to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew on board that flight.

"While the cause of this sad loss is undetermined at this time, we stand by our commitment to putting the safety of our passengers and crew first by maintaining complete and undoubtable safe operations, and as such, we have taken the decision to suspend operations of both our new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, effective from Monday March 11, 2019, until more information is received," said Cayman Airways President and CEO, Fabian Whorms.

Mr. Whorms said Cayman Airways is currently working in coordination with both the Boeing Corporation and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) to monitor the investigation into Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.

"We offer our valued customers our continued assurance that all prudent and necessary actions required for the safe operation of our Max 8's will be accomplished before the aircraft are returned to service," he said, adding that some relatively minor, but necessary schedule and capacity changes will be needed over the next few days to manage the flight schedule in instances where the national airline may be short on available aircraft.

"We appreciate the understanding and support of our customers as we implement these changes, and apologize in advance for any inconveniences that may be caused," he said.

CAL suspends Max 8 operations

It is great to see an airline who puts safety first I hope more airlines follow suit.

Thank you Margarita25 you are so kind.

 

[gregjrichards]

A Greek man said on Sunday, March 10, he would have been the 150th passenger on the Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing plane that crashed killing all on board, except he arrived two minutes late for the flight.

"I was mad because nobody helped me to reach the gate on time," Antonis Mavropoulos said in a Facebook post entitled "My lucky day" in which he includes a photo of his ticket.

Greek man saved from Ethiopia plane crash because he arrived late

 

[MsFacetious]

So this airline with a good safety record has now lost 25% of its 737-800's? Or do they have others that are not max? Because the 2010 was this airline too.

Good for the areas that are grounding them.

The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines said the airline owns 6 other 737 Max 8 aircraft but they weren't being grounded as the cause of the crash is unknown at this stage! Yikes. I wouldn't fly on one of these planes if my life depended on it because my life would surely be at risk if I did.

He said the plane “is now right inside the ground” and it was not possible to identify whether it was an emergency landing or a crash. He said there was still smoke at the site when he visited.

 

[gregjrichards]

The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines said the airline owns 6 other 737 Max 8 aircraft but they weren't being grounded as the cause of the crash is unknown at this stage! Yikes. I wouldn't fly on one of these planes if my life depended on it because my life would surely be at risk if I did.

He said the plane “is now right inside the ground” and it was not possible to identify whether it was an emergency landing or a crash. He said there was still smoke at the site when he visited.

I am very disappointed in the CEO’s response if any airline should be grounding these aircraft the first should be his regardless of the $$$$ at stake. I wouldn’t fly this plane if offered any amount of money on any airline.

gregjrichards, glad to see you back! Just in time too to help in this tragic disaster.

Do you think this Emergency Directive issued by the FAA was helpful or useful in trying to prevent the disaster that forced this plane down?

Just my laypersons opinion, it seemed a cover my a$$ type
paper. Knowing exactly what the cause of the problem was, why were these planes not pulled and this function
disabled, overridden, or replaced?

How can a pilot perform these extra maneuvers in a plane going haywire as he is doing his best to keep the plane in the air? All in a matter of seconds.....

Thank you. I’m not a pilot so I don’t know if I am qualified to answer this question. But Boeing’s solution seems extremely unsatisfactory. In my view if you are pilot and are flying a plane that is out of control you most often don’t have the time to follow a step by step process in an airworthiness directive or pull out a manual and brainstorm what it says to do in the sheer panic of it all. This tragic plane was unbelievably only in the air six minutes and I imagine the cockpit voice recording is going to be extremely distressing. The brave crew will have fought to save the plane as best they could but ultimately couldn’t. I have watched many episodes of Air Crash Investigation like this.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Boeing tomorrow their share price is going to take a hit. I hope they co-operate fully. Their phones will be ringing from airlines around the world that have these planes or have ordered them. I suspect orders will be getting cancelled and Airbus will offer their alternatives to these airlines.

 

[JudgeJudi]

So this airline with a good safety record has now lost 25% of its 737-800's? Or do they have others that are not max? Because the 2010 was this airline too.

Good for the areas that are grounding them.

It's my understanding that this problem is confined to the 737 MAX series. "The Boeing 737 MAX series became the fastest-selling airliner in the commercial aviation history when it entered into service last year".

Experts find faults on two more Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8

 

[gregjrichards]

China is one of the world's biggest users of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft -- and it has just grounded them all.

The country has 97 of the planes in operation domestically, according to state media.

The “Big Three” state-owned carriers -- Air China, China Eastern and China Southern -- have the largest number of Max 8s in their fleets.

The MAX 8 aircraft are currently suspended from operation, according to the country's aviation authority.

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

The link above is posting ongoing updates as they happen. It is going to be very interesting what happens in the days ahead.

Boeing has cancelled the unveiling of the Boeing 777-X this week which is understandable. This is a much bigger aircraft than the 737-8 Max.

 

[gregjrichards]

PICTURED: 24-year-old activist, father-of-three, and five-year-old girl among 18 Canadians killed in Ethiopian Air crash - as Justin Trudeau says he is 'deeply saddened' by the tragedy while Trump remains silent on the eight American victims

• Danielle Moore was on way to attend the United Nations Environment Assembly
• The young activist had worked for many non-profit organizations in Winnipeg
• Pius Adesanmi was author, Nigerian professor at Carleton University in Ottawa
• Derick Lwugi, an accountant with the City of Calgary, leaves behind 3 children
• Amina Ibrahim Odowaa and her five-year-old daughter Safiya were also killed

Acclaimed author, father-of-three among Canadian Ethiopian Air victims | Daily Mail Online

May they all Rest In Peace.

 

[gregjrichards]

“A US official told Reuters the United States was unsure of what information China was acting on.

The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said there were no plans to follow suit given the 737 MAX had a stellar safety record in the United States and there was a lack of information about the cause of the Ethiopian crash.”

China grounds ALL Boeing 737 Max 8 planes following Ethiopian Airlines crash | Daily Mail Online

If accurate this is unsatisfactory.

 

[Dontknow?]

dbm

 

[JudgeJudi]

Boeing did not take the costly step of retraining pilots on that new feature of the flight control system when it introduced the MAX 8 in 2017, based on the argument that the new models flew essentially the same way as the familiar 737s. Pilots complained that neither the company, the airlines or the Federal Aviation Administration informed them of the change.

After the crash, Boeing sent out an advisory telling pilots how to override the software upgrade that created the problem.

'A punch in the nose for Boeing': Second fatal crash raises questions about plane's safety

BIB: This is sickening. So Boeing sends out an advisory and expects pilots to try and control a plane that is uncontrollable due to what appears to be a design flaw!

There’s no way, IMO, that Boeing can justify their outrageous behaviour. While it may be a costly step to retrain pilots, surely this is not the issue. They have a duty to find out what the problem is and do some re-engineering if necessary to correct this fatal flaw. 346 people have now lost their lives. Enough is enough. If they don’t get to the bottom of this, their profits will nosedive just like their planes.

 

[JudgeJudi]

A witness told AFP the plane came down in flames.

"The plane was already on fire when it crashed to the ground. The crash caused a big explosion," Tegegn Dechasa recounted at the site, littered with passenger belongings, human remains, and airplane parts around a massive crater at the point of impact.

"I was near the river near the crash site. Shortly after the crash police and a fire crew from a nearby air force camp came and extinguished the plane’s flames on the ground," Dechasa said. "The plane was in flames in its rear side shortly before the crash. The plane was swerving erratically before the crash."

Ethiopian Airlines crash: Families mourn as nationalities of 157 victims revealed

 

[JudgeJudi]

A Greek man said on Sunday, March 10, he would have been the 150th passenger on the Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing plane that crashed killing all on board, except he arrived two minutes late for the flight.

"I was mad because nobody helped me to reach the gate on time," Antonis Mavropoulos said in a Facebook post entitled "My lucky day" in which he includes a photo of his ticket.

Greek man saved from Ethiopia plane crash because he arrived late

For one family member waiting in Nairobi there was a happy ending.

Khalid Ali Abdulrahman was waiting for his son who works in Dubai and feared the worst when a security official told him the plane had crashed.

"I was shocked, but shortly after, my son contacted me and told me he is still in Addis and did not board that flight, he is waiting for the second one which has been delayed."

Ethiopian Airlines crash: Families mourn as nationalities of 157 victims revealed

 

[gregjrichards]

Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all its Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft

Ethiopian Airlines
@flyethiopian Twitter

 

[gregjrichards]

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

 

[jggordo]

I lived in KC MO for years but now live about 120 miles away in between KC and St Louis. This last week along about Wednesday about 10:45 AM there was a HUGE boom that shook the whole house. Like a big explosion. People called 911 from all over the city. After hours of investigation it was found that Boeing from KC was testing an aircraft as a "requirement before delivery to the client" and it broke the sound barrier. They said it was not a "sonic boom" but had another name. But the sound rattled the entire mid MO.

 

[iulia]

Both black boxes found from crashed Ethiopian jet

Investigators sifting through the wreckage of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane recovered the black boxes Monday, a critical step toward determining what caused the disaster, which killed all 157 on board, among them two Israelis.

“The Digital Flight Data Recorder(DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder(CVR) of ET302 have been Recovered,” Ethiopian Airlines tweeted.

 

[gregjrichards]

Indonesia grounds all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft.

American Airlines to continue flying the plane.

FlyDubai to continue flying the plane.

Southwest Airlines to continue flying the plane.

Singapore Airlines SilkAir to continue flying the plane.

Boeing share price down 10%.

The pilot of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 has been identified as Yared Getachew, Ethiopian Airlines official Bamlaku Gete told CNN.

He was a senior Ethiopian Airlines pilot who had flown more than 8,000 hours. He had an “excellent flying record”, according to CEO Tewolde GebreMariam.

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: Live updates - CNN

 

[JudgeJudi]

Boeing shares continue their slide.

The Dow fell 225 points, or 0.9%, this morning, dragged lower by a sharp selloff for Boeing. The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while the Nasdaq advanced 0.5%.

Boeing dropped 13% following the second crash of its 737 MAX 8 jet in five months.

Some context here: Boeing is on track for its worst day since September 17, 2001 — the first day of trading following the 9/11 terror attacks. Southwest Airlines, which operates the largest fleet of 737 Max 8 jets, fell 2%.

Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: Live updates - CNN

 

[Justice101]

I was reluctant to blame Boeing after the Lion crash.. .but the fact that this has now apparently happened again... and that the pilots again were not apparently able to override (a hidden) autopilot feature.. Why or why have something that sophisticated that you cannot disengage completely to control the plane by hand? is beyond me.

That feature needs to be removed from the software immediately. Planes need to be grounded until the root cause of the first and second crashes can be determined.,

 

[margarita25]

“Here's the full statement:

“We have engaged our customers and regulators on concerns they may have - and would refer you to them to discuss their operations and decisions. Safety is our number one priority and we are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved. The investigation is in its early stages, but at this point, based on the information available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators.”“

Boeing says it has no plans to issue new guidance