Kenya mourns the loss of 32 citizens among 157 fatalities in the Ethiopian Airlines crash near Bishoftu, 60 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa. The Boeing 737 Max 800, operating as flight ET302, disappeared from radar two minutes after takeoff from Bole International Airport on March 10, 2019, with pilot Yared Getachew reporting technical issues before attempting to return.
The aircraft, which had flown from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa and undergone maintenance in February 2019, crashed shortly after 8:42 a.m. local time. All 157 passengers and crew perished, including 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, and representatives from 33 nations. The United Nations Environment Programme suspended its Nairobi assembly in response to the tragedy.
Investigations are examining potential links to the October 2018 Lion Air crash, which also involved a Boeing 737 Max 8. Aviation authorities in Indonesia and the U.S. previously raised concerns about the aircraft's automated flight control system. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam emphasized collaboration with Boeing and regulatory bodies to determine the cause.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed condolences. The crash marks the third major incident for Ethiopian Airlines since 1996, when a hijacked plane crashed in the Comoros Islands, and 2010, following a Beirut takeoff disaster.
