Captain Yared (R) of the ill-fated aircraft was of Ethiopian and Kenyan heritage/ Credit: Hassan Katende/Facebook
Boeing 737 Max 8 is New Aircraft, See other African airlines that have aircraft
Airlines flying the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft have started grounding the aircraft following suspected default problem.
The Sunday crash was the second crash in five months involving a 737 Max 8, and comparisons are being drawn.
The BBC reported that four African airlines, including Comair, Royal Air Maroc of Morocco were flying the Boeing 737 Max 8 passenger aircraft, before Sunday’s crash.
In September 2018, privately-owned Air Peace of Nigeria signed an order for 10 737 MAX 8
“South Africa’s privately-owned Comair of South Africa, Mauritania Airlines, received its first plane just two weeks ago, becoming the first airline in southern Africa to operate the passenger jet.
The airline has ordered seven more, with one expected to arrive later this month.
Comair has issued a statement saying it “will continue to monitor the various investigations by the relevant authorities and are in close contact with both Boeing and the SACAA [South African Civil Aviation Authority]”.
According to Boeing, state-owned Mauritania Airlines was the first to operate the plane in Africa, receiving its first delivery in December 2017.
Ethiopian Airlines received its first Max 8 in July 2018. The country had placed an order for 30 Max jets.
Ethiopian Airlines has now grounded its 737 Max 8 fleet following the crash.
Morocco’s state-owned Royal Air Maroc received its first 737 Max 8 in December last year, and received a second one in February.
In September 2018, privately-owned Air Peace of Nigeria signed an order for 10 737 MAX 8 airplanes.
About three months later, Boeing announced that Lagos-based Green Africa Airways planned to buy up to 100 of the jets as the airline continued preparations to begin commercial operations.
The proposed deal was worth $11.7bn (£9bn), and it would be Africa’s largest aircraft deal if finalised, Boeing added.
Meanwhile, the black box for the Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 that crashed on Sunday near the town of Bishoftu, 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital, Addis Ababa, has been found, Ethiopian state media reports.
US plane maker Boeing is facing questions after the aircraft crashed six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people on board.
Investigators and rescue teams have been going through the wreckage of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 since Sunday morning when the plane crashed minutes after take-off.
It’s a slow, delicate process as much of the aircraft shattered into pieces on impact in a farmland near the town of Bishoftu, 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Debris from the plane and some personal belongings are scattered all over the crash scene, which is about the size of a football pitch.
Excavators have been deployed to dig through the big crater that was created when the plane hit the ground.
Authorities say the focus is the recovery of the victims’ remains.
The aircraft manufacturer Boeing says its investigators will join the team searching for clues into why the plane crashed.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has promised a thorough investigation into the incident and vowed to make the findings public.