On Tuesday, Ethiopian Airlines will fly the Boeing 737 MAX for the first time since the deadly March 2019 crash that led to the aircraft being grounded by dozens of airlines worldwide.
Flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi plunged six minutes after takeoff into a field southeast of the Ethiopian capital. 157 people died. The tragedy took place five months after 189 people died in a 737 MAX crash in Indonesia.
The twin disasters and subsequent scrutiny of the 737 MAX’s faulty flight handling system — known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) — amounted to the worst crisis in Boeing’s history.
State-owned Ethiopian Airlines had long said it would be the last carrier to use the single-aisle jets again. The carrier gave no details on which flight it plans to use the 737 MAX.
In a statement to AFP, the airline said the decision to resume 737 MAX flights came after “intense recertification” by regulators in the United States, the European Union, China and Ethiopia.
“Our pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians, and cabin crew are fully prepared to take the B737 MAX back to the skies and we look forward to welcoming you on board,” its statement said.
U.S. regulators allowed the 737 MAX back into service in late 2020. Several other countries and carriers followed suit in 2021.
Indonesia lifted its ban on the aircraft in January.
The decision to wait as long as it did before flying the 737 MAX again was “really commendable”, said Yeshiwas Fentahun, who was president of Ethiopia’s independent pilots’ association in 2019 but is no longer with the company.
The loss of the flight crew was traumatic for all employees, he said.
“There were pilots who were close to the people who lost their lives in the accident, and it’s really hard to say if everyone has moved past that experience,” he said.
“But I believe it’s a reasonable time for most of us to move past that experience.”
The victims of the Flight 302 crash, the worst in Ethiopia’s history, hailed from more than 30 countries.
Boeing has reached an agreement with the victims’ families and accepted responsibility for the crash, according to legal documents filed in November in Chicago, where the company is headquartered.
The proposed agreement did not mention specific sums, as jurors will be responsible for assessing amounts.
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