Rescue crews who arrived in the area found no trace of life
Ethiopian Airlines plane crash six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa International Airport, as the company announced that no 157 passengers survived.
The passengers bound for Nairobi, Kenya, came from 33 countries, the country's state-run network said.
The ET 302 crashed near the town of Bisoftou, 62 km southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, the airline said, confirming that the aircraft model was a Boeing 737-800 MAX.
"It is confirmed that it happened at 08.44, in the morning," said the same spokesman, who did not want to be named.
The office of the country's prime minister expressed his condolences to the families of the victims via Twitter. "The office of the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia would like to extend its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones this morning on a scheduled Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 flight to Nairobi, Kenya," the statement said. on Twitter.
According to the flight flight registration page "flightradar24", the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft with 149 passengers and eight crew members "had an unstable rise rate [Vertical Speed]".
"Data from the Flightradar24 ADS-B network shows that the rate of flight of the aircraft was unstable, after its take-off," the above-mentioned flight monitoring network, based in Sweden, said in a Twitter post.
A spokesman for Ethiopian Airlines said the country's airline lost contact with the aircraft six minutes after taking off from Bole International Airport before it crashed near the town of Bisofto, 62 km southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express it's deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning. - Office of the Prime Minister - Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) March 10 2019
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 UTCPlease note that Addis Ababa airport is located at 7,625 feet AMSL. pic.twitter.com/Uyvfp1x9Xb- Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 10 2019