‘It’s highly suspicious’: Alarm bells raised over doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight

A graph has revealed worrying changes to the doomed Boeing 737 MAX 8 just before it crashed, killing all 157 people on board.

The harrowing final seconds of the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed today killing all 157 on board have been revealed.

The doomed Boeing 737 MAX-8 jet went down just six minutes after taking off from Bole International Airport in Ethiopia.

Flight-tracking website flightradar24 showed the plane “had unstable vertical speed” shortly after it took off, losing and gaining speed dramatically in its final seconds, The Sun reports.

Aviation experts have said this is extremely unusual because once take off happens they say the vertical speed should rise or remain the same.

The vertical speed of the plane before it crashed.

UN animal campaigner Joanna Toole, 36, from Devon, and dad Joseph Waithaka, 55, from Hull, are among the 157 victims who were killed when the plane crashed.

It is not yet clear what caused the crash – but something went wrong shortly after takeoff at 8.38am.

The plane climbed to 2600m – but just six minutes later, contact with the aircraft was lost.

The pilot of the plane reported difficulties and asked to turn back, according to the airline’s CEO Tewolde GebreMariam.

He added the pilot had an “excellent flying record” and clocked up more than 8,000 hours experience.

A chilling radar map shows the flight not far from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, before the tracking suddenly stops.

CHINA GROUNDS PLANES

China has told its domestic airlines to ground their Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleets as the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 raises grave concerns about safety of the top-selling aircraft.

The pilot of the 737 MAX 8 involved in yesterday’s crash reported difficulties just minutes after takeoff and asked to turn back to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

But within moments the plane crashed into the ground, killing all 157 people on board.

China has now asked domestic airlines to temporarily ground the 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which was also involved in the fatal crash of a Lion Air flight in October, Beijing’s Caijing News reports.

China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China, Hainan Airlines and Shandong Airlines have the aircraft in their fleet, and China Southern Airlines has another 34 on order.

A blanket grounding in China — one of the world’s biggest travel markets — will be a huge blow to Boeing’s reputation, Bloomberg reports.

Virgin Australia has 30 MAX 8 planes on order from Boeing, along with 10 of the MAX 10s.

The development comes as haunting new details of the tragic Ethiopian Airlines crash emerge.

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told reporters at a press conference the pilot of flight ET 302 reported technical difficulties and asked for clearance to return to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Flight data shows the flight left the city at about 8.38am local time and climbed to 2600m. However, just six minutes later, takeoff contact with the aircraft was lost.

Mr GebreMariam told reporters the pilot was given clearance to turn back after reporting a problem — citing the air traffic controllers record.

He added the pilot had an “excellent flying record” and clocked up more than 8000 hours experience.

Flight ET302 crashed just six minutes after taking off. Picture: Twitter

A routine maintenance check didn’t reveal any problems, so Mr GebreMariam said the cause of the crash was still unclear.

“It is a brand-new aeroplane with no technical remarks, flown by a senior pilot and there is no cause that we can attribute at this time,” he told reporters.

However, experts have called for all fleets to be grounded as flight radar data for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 service shows its vertical speed was unstable after takeoff.

It was the same type of aircraft as the plane involved in a deadly Lion Air crash off Jakarta in October, killing all 189 people on board.

The new Boeing model was recently unveiled to great fanfare by the US aviation giant. Its first flight was less than two years ago.

However, aviation analysts have now expressed grave concerns over the new model — saying the similarities between yesterday’s crash and the Lion Air disaster are too great to be ignored.

Both were run by well-known airlines with strong safety records.

The Lion Air flight crashed 13 minutes after takeoff, while the Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed just six minutes into its journey.

Lion Air flight JT610 crashed just 13 minutes after taking off. Picture: Adek Berry/AFP.

“It’s highly suspicious,” Mary Schiavo, an aviation analyst and the former inspector general of the US Transportation Department, told CNN.

“Here we have a brand-new aircraft that’s gone down twice in a year. That rings alarm bells in the aviation industry because that just doesn’t happen.”

William Waldock, an aviation-safety professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, said so far it appeared both planes crashed with a fatal nosedive.

“Investigators are not big believers in coincidence,” he said, saying Boeing would be looking at the flight-management system and automation on its 737 MAX 8 planes.

In last night’s crash, all eight crew and 149 passengers on-board, including tourists, business travellers and at least 19 UN staff, were killed.

Initial flight radar data shows similarity with #lionair crash. Inconsistent vertical speed. Fleets need to be grounded.

— Raghu Sapra (@raghusapra) 10 March 2019

Overnight, Ethiopia declared a national day of mourning for Monday amid a global stream of condolences for loved ones, many of whom gathered in tears at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

“Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO deeply regrets the fatal accident involved on ET 302/March 10 on a scheduled flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi,” it said on its Facebook page.

“The group CEO who is at the accident scene right now regrets to confirm that there are no survivors.

All 157 people on board were killed. Picture: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

“He expresses his profound sympathy and condolences to the families and loved ones of passengers and crew who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”

Ethiopia’s state broadcaster Fana Broadcasting Corporate said the passengers included 33 nationalities.

Authorities said Canadians (18), Chinese (8), Americans (8), Italians (8), Indians (4), French (7), British (7), Dutch (5), Russian (3), Moroccan (2), Israeli (2), Belgian (1), Ugandan (1), Yemeni (1), Sudanese (1), Togolese (1), Mozambican (1), Norwegian (1) and Egyptians (6) were among the foreigners killed in the crash, along with Ethiopians (9) and Kenyans (32). Four held a UN passport.

WIFE, SON, DAUGHTER DEAD

Perhaps, one of the most heartbreaking stories of the tragedy is that of Slovak MP Anton Hrnko’s family.

“It is with deep sorrow that I announce that my dear wife, Blanka, son Martin and daughter Michala, died in the air disaster in Addis Ababa this morning,” he wrote on Facebook.

Flight ET302 ploughed into a field 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa on what the Mr GebreMariam labelled a “very sad and tragic day”.

Additional data from Flightradar24 ADS-B network show that vertical speed was unstable after take off.

Take off 05:38:18 UTC
Last position received by FR24 at 05:41:02 UTC

Please note that Addis Ababa airport is located at 7,625 feet AMSL. pic.twitter.com/Uyvfp1x9Xb

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) 10 March 2019

#flightradar data appears to show that Ethiopian Airlines #ET302 left Addis Ababa At 0838am local time, climbed to 8,600ft. Five minutes after takeoff contact with the aircraft was lost. pic.twitter.com/NuIKMQPyzG

— Nick Martin (@NickMartinSKY) 10 March 2019

An eyewitness 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 aeroplane parts around a massive crater at the point of impact.

“The plane was in flames in its rear side shortly before the crash. The plane was swerving erratically before the crash.”

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was brand new, delivered to state-owned Ethiopian Airways on November 15, said the carrier, Africa’s largest.

HOW IT UNFOLDED

Ethiopian Airlines said the plane had taken off at 8.38am (0538 GMT) from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” roughly six minutes later.

It came down near Tulu Fara village outside the town of Bishoftu. The carrier, which changed its logo on Twitter to black and white from its trademark green, yellow, and red, said “there are no survivors”.

“We can only hope that she is not on that flight,” Peter Kimani, who had come to fetch his sister at Nairobi’s JKIA, told AFP after news of the disaster reached those waiting in the arrivals hall.

A day of national morning has been declared in Ethiopia. Picture: Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP

Loved ones were later brought to the Sheraton Hotel where they were debriefed and offered counselling. Journalists were not allowed in but could hear sobbing from inside.

For one family member in Nairobi, however, 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,” he said.

DIASTER FOR THE UN

The passengers included “at least a dozen” UN-affiliated staff headed for an annual assembly of the UN Environment Program, which opens in Nairobi on Monday with some 700 heads of state, ministers, business leaders, senior UN officials and civil society representatives, a UN source told AFP.

The cause of the crash is still unclear. Picture: Facebook via AP

“Deeply saddened by the news this morning of the plane crash in Ethiopia, claiming the lives of all on board. My heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all the victims — including our own @UN staff — who perished in this tragedy,” tweeted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Some of the UN staff were from the World Food Program and UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the agencies said.

Ethiopian and American investigators would investigate the crash, said Mr GebreMariam.

— with AFP