BISHOFTU, ETHIOPIA — An Ethiopian Airlines plane headed for Nairobi crashed minutes after take-off on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board.
According to Reuters, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 left Bole Airport in Addis Ababa at 8:38 a.m. local time, before losing contact with the control tower at 8:44 a.m. According to data published by FlightRadar24, the plane took off in good weather and clear visibility and struggles to ascend at a stable speed. According to data published by FlightRadar24 on Twitter, during the first three minutes of flight, the vertical speed was unstable after take-off. According to chief executive of the airline Tewolde GebreMariam, the pilot had sent out a distress call and was cleared to return to the airport. After losing contact with air traffic controllers, the plane crashed into the ground near Bishoftu, a town southeast of the capital. Passengers from 33 countries were aboard the flight, said GebreMariam. According to Reuters, the aircraft, a 737 MAX 8, is the same Boeing model as the Lion Air flight that crashed in the Java Sea after take-off from Jakarta on Oct. 29, killing all 189 people on board.
Boeing has said it is sending a technical team to help with the Ethiopian-led crash investigation.
