Three years after the crash that killed 157, Ethiopian Airlines resumes flights with the Boeing 737 MAX

Ethiopian Airlines is to resume flights with the Boeing 737 MAX on Tuesday 1^er September; a first since the crash which caused the death of 157 people, almost three years ago, and led to the immobilization of this aircraft on the ground around the world.

In March 2019, Flight 302 bound for Nairobi, operated by the Ethiopian national airline, crashed in a field southeast of Addis Ababa, six minutes after takeoff, due to faulty software. The accident triggered the worst crisis in the history of the American aircraft manufacturer, following another accident a few months later, that of a Lion Air aircraft in Indonesia, in October 2018 (189 dead). Ethiopian Airlines, economic jewel of the second most populous country in Africa, had long repeated that it would be the last airline to resume flights with this aircraft.

In a statement sent to AFP, the carrier said the decision came after a “deep recertification” by regulators in the United States, European Union, China and Ethiopia. Ethiopian Airlines, which had four 737 MAXs at the time of the crash, provided a list of 35 other airlines currently using the plane. “Our pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians and crew are fully prepared to fly the B737 MAX again and we look forward to welcoming you on board”, underlines the company.

Trauma

The fact of having waited so long is “truly commendable”, told AFP Yeshiwas Fentahun, who chaired a pilots association in 2019, but has since left the carrier. The death of the crew, which included the company’s youngest pilot, Yared Getachew, was traumatic for all employees, he recalls: “Some drivers were very close to the people who died in the accident and it’s very difficult to know if everyone has moved on. But I think it’s a decent amount of time for most of us to move on from that experience. »

Victims of Flight 302’s crash, the worst in Ethiopia’s history, hailed from more than 30 countries. Boeing made a deal with their families and admitted responsibility for the crash, according to legal documents filed in November with a court in Chicago, where it is headquartered. The documents do not mention sums, but the families of the victims will be able to take steps to obtain compensation in American courts.