A Greek man who missed an Ethiopian Airlines flight by two minutes survived a crash that killed all 157 people on board, according to a social media post detailing his near-death experience.
Antonis Mavropoulos, president of the International Solid Waste Association, described arriving at the Addis Ababa airport gate just as the Boeing 737-800 MAX flight ET302 closed for boarding. He said airport staff detained him for questioning, citing his status as the only booked passenger who did not board the doomed aircraft.
"They led me to the police station of the airport. The officer told me not to protest but to pray to God because I was the only passenger that didn’t board the ET 302 flight that was lost," Mavropoulos wrote in a Facebook post titled "My lucky day." The post included a photo of his ticket and expressed shock at his survival.
The Nairobi-bound plane crashed minutes after takeoff on March 10, 2019, killing 157 people from 30 countries, including UN workers. Ethiopian Airlines had operated the aircraft for just 11 days after receiving it on November 15, 2018. The crash followed a similar incident in October 2018 when a Boeing 737-800 MAX crashed in Jakarta, killing 189 people.
Airport authorities stated they detained Mavropoulos to verify his identity and confirm why he missed the flight. He later boarded a subsequent flight but faced delays due to the investigation into the crash.
