It was a very disheartening event that took place on 10th of March 2019. A Boeing 737 Max 8 owned by Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after it took off from Addis Ababa. The airplane was en route to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew members. This crash was the second fatal accident with a new Boeing 737 Max 8 involved. The main cause of the crash of flight 302 is still unknown, however, there are many things that we know and don’t know. 

Things We Know

#1 The Crash: The Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, which was on its way to Nairobi, lost its contact with control system just 3 minutes after the takeoff and the plane disappeared from the radar right after 3 minutes from its last received radar signal.

#2 The Aircraft: The same Boeing 737 Max 8 model experienced similar calamity with Lion Air Flight 610 in October in Indonesia, killing 189 people on board. Officials are investigating whether the change in flight’s automatic controls sent flight 302 into a nose dive.

#3 The Passengers: The passengers of the flight include 32 from Kenya, 8 from US, 8 from China, 9 from Ethiopia, 7 from France, 8 from Italy, 7 from Britain and 4 from India. In total, the plane was carrying around 35 nationalities, including some environmental leaders and UN staff members across its affiliate organisations.

#4 The Investigation: As the accident happened in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority began the investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board will also conduct the investigation as the plane was designed and manufactured in the US. In a report to CNBC, Boeing mentioned that it will also participate to provide technical assistance to the NTSB.

Things We Don’t Know

#1 What caused the crash: The majority information about the cause of the crash will come from the black box and CVR. Both are recovered, and are under the custody of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority. However, clear evidence for the crash has not been discovered yet, and it may take years to complete full investigation. 

#2 If there’s a link to Lion Air crash: There are many apparent similarities between two disasters such as both flew new Max 8 aircrafts and both crashed just after a few minutes into the flight. But, until the voice recorder and black box are analysed, it is impossible to say if both crashes are linked.

#3 What technical problems the pilot reported: One of the pilots that was flying flight 302 had logged more than 8,000 hours and had an excellent flying record. He reported technical problems to air traffic control which was making it difficult to control the aircraft. But, what exact problems he experienced are still unclear.

Thus, accidents don’t just happen, there are series of critical events that cause the disaster. It is always good to insure your trip. There are websites like By Discount Codes that offers discounted travel insurance for a variety of trips.