'No survivors': Ethiopian Airlines plane crash kills all 157 people on board

A jetliner carrying 157 people crashed shortly after take-off from the Ethiopian capital on Sunday, killing everyone on board and carving a crater into the ground, authorities said.

At least 35 nationalities were among those killed in the crash.

Sunday's flight left Bole airport in Addis Ababa at 8.38am local time and was heading to Kenya's capital Nairobi, but it lost contact with the control tower in Addis Ababa just a few minutes after take-off.

There were 149 passengers and eight crew aboard flight ET302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft – a relatively new plane.

Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam.Credit: AP

The dead included Kenyan, Ethiopian, American, Canadian, French, Chinese, Egyptian, Swedish, British, Irish, Spanish and Dutch citizens. Four passengers were travelling on United Nations passports, with at least one nationality unclear.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said they had no information there were any Australians on board the flight.

"Our embassy in Addis Ababa continues to make urgent inquiries of local authorities in Ethiopia," the spokesperson said.

The flight disaster is a fresh crisis for aircraft manufacturer Boeing, with the crash bearing similarities to the Lion Air flight that nosedived into the ocean off the coast of Indonesia in October last year, killing all 189 on board.

Both the Indonesian and Ethiopian planes were the same model of 737.

The aircraft shattered into many pieces and was severely burnt, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene. Clothing and personal effects were scattered widely.

Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam would not speculate on the cause of the crash.

Family members of the victims involved in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash at Addis Ababa international airport.Credit: AP

"The pilot mentioned he had difficulty and he wanted to return and he was given clearance," he said.

"It is a brand new airplane, it had no technical remarks and was flown by a senior pilot. We received the airplane on November 15, 2018. It has flown more than 1200 hours. It had flown from Johannesburg earlier this morning."

Ethiopian Airlines said Ethiopian authorities, manufacturer Boeing and other international stakeholders would collaborate on an investigation into the cause of the crash.

A new statement by the airline also said families of the victims had been contacted and that remains would be returned to them once identified.

Wreckage from the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed south of Addis Ababa on Sunday.Credit: AP

International reaction

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the crash because there are French citizens among the victims.

The prosecutor's office announced the decision on Sunday, without elaborating. It is a standard procedure when French citizens are killed abroad.

Nigeria's foreign affairs ministry said a former ambassador was among the victims. A statement said Abiodun Oluremi Bashua was a retired career envoy who served in various capacities in Iran, Austria and Ivory Coast.

It said the ambassador, born in 1951, was a "seasoned UN expert" with experience in several United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said "it is with great sadness and shock" that refugee agency colleagues were among the victims of the crash.

A statement by Filppo Grandi said his office was working to confirm how many colleagues were on board the plane.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement he joined the international community in mourning the lives of so many. He said the Canadian government was providing consular assistance and working with local authorities to gather further information.

A prominent Kenyan soccer official is believed to be among the dead.

Hussein Swaleh, the former secretary general of the Kenyan soccer federation, was due to return home on the flight after working as the match commissioner in an African Champions League game in Egypt on Friday.

The investigation

Investigators will seek to secure the crash site and collect evidence, starting with black boxes capturing cockpit conversations and data, while compiling records on recent operations of the plane and the crew.

Under international rules, responsibility for leading the crash investigation lies with Ethiopian authorities, while the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will also take part because the Boeing aircraft was designed and built in the United States.

Relatives of the victims board a bus at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.Credit: AP

Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting reported that the number of Ethiopian victims in Sunday's plane crash was 18 and their families had been notified.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office tweeted its "deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones".

The plane was the same model as the Lion Air flight that crashed just 13 minutes after taking off.

The aircraft plunged 1479 metres in altitude in just 21 seconds, with Boeing later warning airlines about false readings from a sensor on the 737 MAX. The plane lacks a common override feature that allows pilots to reliably pull planes out of nose dives.

Ethiopian Airlines announced the acquisition of new MAX aircraft in July. There are currently six others being used by the airline and GebreMariam said there were no plans to suspend their use.

According to the Swedish Flightradar 24 website, the plane that crashed on Sunday had its maiden flight in October. The site added that the flight's vertical speed was "unstable" after take-off.

The MAX model is the newest version of Boeing's workhorse 737 model, the world's most popular commercial aircraft.

Boeing released a statement saying it was "deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the passengers and crew on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302".

"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," it said.

"A Boeing technical team will be travelling to the crash site to provide technical assistance under the direction of the Ethiopia Accident Investigation Bureau and US National Transportation Safety Board."

Ethiopian Airlines set up emergency hotline numbers for families and friends of victims and changed the cover image on its Facebook page to black.

Ethiopian Airlines is the continent's largest airline in terms of destinations and passengers served. The airline already serves more than 100 destinations worldwide.

The Ethiopian government has been promising to open up the state-owned airline to domestic and international investors. The company has been been snapping up stakes in smaller African carriers to pre-empt potential rivals as it seeks to become the gateway to Africa.

It has a four-star rating on Skytrax, an international airline rating website, although there have been incidents involving the airline's planes over the years.

A flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi ran out of fuel and crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands in 1996 after it was hijacked by three men who demanded the pilot take them to Australia, 125 of the 175 people died.

In 2010, an Ethiopian Airlines flight exploded mid-air, crashing into the sea shortly after taking off from Beirut, Lebanon, killing all 90 on board.

Four years later, one of the airline's jets from Addis Ababa to Milan was hijacked and diverted to Geneva by its co-pilot, Hailemedhin Tegegn, who claimed he was seeking asylum in Switzerland. No one on board was harmed.

With The Washington Post and agencies