Ethiopia exonerates pilot error as cause of deadly plane crash

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Europe

01:50

A preliminary report shows that pilots followed correct procedures and regulations before the fatal crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 in which all 157 people on board died in Ethiopia, according to a transport official at a press conference on Thursday.

"The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly [that were] provided by the manufacturer but were not able to control the aircraft," Ethiopia's minister of transport Dagmawit Moges told reporters, adding that the full report into the crash will be released within one year.

Following the press conference, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said in a statement that he's "very proud" of the pilots for their "high level of professional performance".

Ethiopian Airlines statement on the preliminary report of the fatal plane crash./ Ethiopian Airlines Twitter Photo

At Thursday's press conference, Dagmawit Moges also said Boeing should review its aircraft control system.

At another press conference held Thursday by Ethiopian investigators, the probe into whether there's a structural problem with the aircraft will take between six months and one year.

"We will analyze whether other problems were existing on this aircraft," Amdye Ayalew Fanta told a news conference in Addis Ababa on Thursday, adding this would take between six months and a year.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 plane belonging to Ethiopian Airlines en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi went down on March 10 shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa.

It was the second crash involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane in five months after the same jet model crashed in Indonesia, claiming 189 lives.

(With input from Reuters)