Ethiopian Airlines said on Monday that it would work with both local and foreign investigators to unravel the cause of the March 10 fatal crash of its Boeing 737-Max-800 aircraft.
The airline also said that it would continue to work with aircraft manufacturer, The Boeing Company, and the United States Aviation, despite the incident.
Tewolde GebreMariam, the Airline’s Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), dropped the hint in a statement obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
“We will work with investigators in Ethiopia, in the U.S. and elsewhere to figure out what went wrong with flight 302,” he said.
NAN reports that the Airlines’ flight ET302 en route Nairobi from Addis Ababa crashed six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 persons on board.
The incident has led to the grounding of the B737-Max-800 aircraft globally over safety concerns, pending the outcome of investigations into the tragic incident.
Mr GebreMariam said the heartbreak for the families of the passengers and crew who perished would be lasting, adding that the incident had forever changed their lives.
“We at Ethiopian Airlines will feel the pain forever. I pray that we all continue to find strength in the weeks and months ahead.
“The people of Ethiopia feel this very deeply too. As a state-owned airline and the flagship carrier for our nation, we carry the torch for the Ethiopian brand around the world.
“In a nation that is sometimes saddled with negative stereotypes, accidents like this affect our sense of pride.
“Yet, this tragedy won’t define us. We pledge to work with Boeing and our colleagues in all the airlines to make air travel even safer,” he said.
The CEO noted that the pilot and crew of the aircraft were properly trained to fly B-737-Max, adding that the truth would be revealed after the investigation was concluded.
He said that while the airline was fully in support of the grounding of the B737-Max aircraft, its confidence in Boeing had never waned.
Mr GebreMariam said, “Let me be clear: Ethiopian Airlines believes in Boeing. They have been a partner of ours for many years.
“More than two-thirds of our fleet is Boeing. We were the first African airline to fly the 767, 757, 777-200LR.
“We were the second nation in the world (after Japan) to take delivery of the 787 Dreamliner.
“Less than a month ago, we took delivery of yet new two 737 cargo planes (three different versions from the one that crashed). The plane that crashed was less than five months old.
“Despite the tragedy, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to be linked well into the future,” he said.
(NAN)
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