Ethiopian airliner down in Africa
Thread Starter
There are plenty of folk standing in the background of this crater photo from ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES Facebook page.
Kenya press reports 7 Brits on board
Kenya press reports 7 Brits on board
Last edited by rog747; 10th Mar 2019 at 13:34. Reason: Kenya reports 7 Brits on board

We have no ideas beyond some possibly educated guess-work as to what happened here but I do have a question that can be answered by someone with the relevant experience. As a 10,000 + hr career pilot I'm not exactly a newby but have not any experience with the latest sophisticated systems being introduced on modern aircraft.
Q. Is there something preventing pilots of these aircraft from simply hitting a 'disconnect' button, listening for the 'C' tone and then getting on with flying manually ? Not suggesting that this is relevant to this accident.
Q. Is there something preventing pilots of these aircraft from simply hitting a 'disconnect' button, listening for the 'C' tone and then getting on with flying manually ? Not suggesting that this is relevant to this accident.

Guys, please be careful with these flight data, which many regard as God given correct.
I really think the Ethiopians know where that plane ended up and if it did where they posted then it is pretty far from that ominous last position. FR24 themselfs writte that they do not have close reception there, it is a hilly area and if they never got above 9000 ft MSL they could well have been in terrain shadow or simply out of reception for the remainder of the flight.
I follow small airplans with ADS-B here often (mine amongst others) and have lost count when they lost my track so many times in areas I would not assume they have bad quality reception, at 3000 ft AGL and so on. To assume that in this case,where a plane flew at barely 1000 ft over Ethiopian hills and lower than low, where they have maybe one or two receivers, is simply fishing for information we don't have.
Yes, it is a new Max which went down, but before calling for grounding or producing other media trash food, let's get a grip of what happened. It usually doesn't take that long.
Without a proper crash position, we know absolutely nothing other than the ADS-B feed stopped at that position which was at approx 9000 ft MSL and in the runway extention. We do not see the descent we do not see the impact. So WAIT for a proper position before trying to guess what happened.
I really think the Ethiopians know where that plane ended up and if it did where they posted then it is pretty far from that ominous last position. FR24 themselfs writte that they do not have close reception there, it is a hilly area and if they never got above 9000 ft MSL they could well have been in terrain shadow or simply out of reception for the remainder of the flight.
I follow small airplans with ADS-B here often (mine amongst others) and have lost count when they lost my track so many times in areas I would not assume they have bad quality reception, at 3000 ft AGL and so on. To assume that in this case,where a plane flew at barely 1000 ft over Ethiopian hills and lower than low, where they have maybe one or two receivers, is simply fishing for information we don't have.
Yes, it is a new Max which went down, but before calling for grounding or producing other media trash food, let's get a grip of what happened. It usually doesn't take that long.
Without a proper crash position, we know absolutely nothing other than the ADS-B feed stopped at that position which was at approx 9000 ft MSL and in the runway extention. We do not see the descent we do not see the impact. So WAIT for a proper position before trying to guess what happened.

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Presumably they're the ones who buy houses at the end of runways so they can complain about aircraft noise...

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Casualty list
Casualty nationalities ex- BBC Africa service et al
32 Kenyan
18 Canadian
9 Ethiopian
8 Chinese
8 Italian
8 American
7 French
7 British
6 Egyptian
5 Dutch
4 UN passports
4 Indian
3 Russian
2 Moroccan
2 Israeli
1 Belgian
1 Ugandan
1 Yemeni
1 Sudanese
1 Togolese
1 Mozambican
1 Norwegian
32 Kenyan
18 Canadian
9 Ethiopian
8 Chinese
8 Italian
8 American
7 French
7 British
6 Egyptian
5 Dutch
4 UN passports
4 Indian
3 Russian
2 Moroccan
2 Israeli
1 Belgian
1 Ugandan
1 Yemeni
1 Sudanese
1 Togolese
1 Mozambican
1 Norwegian

Respectfully, and as someone who lives in africa and travels extensively round the continent, ET is a dreadful airline, running what we call a ‘chicken bus’ service (think of an African bus with chickens tied to the roof). Bole Airport is absolutely one of the worlds worst, and I’ve had more scary flights on ET than I have had on any other airline - and I am not a nervous flier at all.
Trundling around africa I’d rather fly KQ/SAA/RAM/THY before ET.
Personally I would wait a while before blaming the aircraft. It’s also possible it was something more akin to human (pilot/ground handling/security/ATC) error.
Oh puh lease which planet are you on? Ethiopian has always been a very professional airline with an excellent safety record and mostly excellent service and reliability. They were managed by TWA during the 60s and 70s and have always kept their professionalism intact. I find your comments offensive.

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Oh puh lease which planet are you on? Ethiopian has always been a very professional airline with an excellent safety record and mostly excellent service and reliability. They were managed by TWA during the 60s and 70s and have always kept their professionalism intact. I find your comments offensive.
live on planet Africa. I fly +/- 50 trans-African routes a year, and have done for 25 years. Based on my experience, my choice is to avoid ET wherever and whenever possible.

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B737 Max differences training
B737 Max differences training takes approx 2.5 hours to complete, mostly it talks about differences in indications on the screens, temp control and PSEU light has been replaced. Engine differences and some procedures.
There is nothing to say that it has to be flown differently than an NG considering a Trim Runaway option, same drills apply. Disconnect AP, switch off AP trim and than Backup trim, use manual trim wheel... In short.
There is nothing to say that it has to be flown differently than an NG considering a Trim Runaway option, same drills apply. Disconnect AP, switch off AP trim and than Backup trim, use manual trim wheel... In short.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-47513534
"'Captain wanted to return' The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam is speaking at a press conference. He said the captain of the crashed plane had told controllers at Bole airport that he was having difficulty and wanted to return, and that he had been given clearance. He also said that the plane had arrived on Sunday morning from South Africa. “[The] plane had more than three hours of ground time after coming from South Africa, it arrived with no remark and was dispatched with no remark.” Mr Tewolde said smoke was still smouldering at the crash site when he visited."
"'Captain wanted to return' The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam is speaking at a press conference. He said the captain of the crashed plane had told controllers at Bole airport that he was having difficulty and wanted to return, and that he had been given clearance. He also said that the plane had arrived on Sunday morning from South Africa. “[The] plane had more than three hours of ground time after coming from South Africa, it arrived with no remark and was dispatched with no remark.” Mr Tewolde said smoke was still smouldering at the crash site when he visited."

Firstly condolences to those who have lost loved ones in a part of the world where this can mean a great deal of additional hardships.
Pprune falling into a few of it's regular traps with debates on whether it's AMSL or GPS altitude and so on. With the usual major provisos about FR24 data (it does show the aircraft airborne at 93kts), it is reasonably clear that it never achieved a normal climb rate for more than a few seconds and therefore it is obvious it never climbed much higher than the surrounding terrain. I'm not current on B737 MAX but my understanding is that MCAS would not be active with flaps out as they must have been at that stage. It did however accelerate in forward speed considerably so it was not short of power.
Bear in mind there is a new reformist PM running Ethiopia who is of a different tribe to the previous power holders and that the flight was to Kenya which has, along with Ethiopia had some security issues with Somalian groups. Nonetheless the profile tends to indicate the cause may lie in the territory of spatial disorientation, configuration, mishandling or technical failure. Not casting unfair aspertions but that is often where the cause lies.
RIP
Pprune falling into a few of it's regular traps with debates on whether it's AMSL or GPS altitude and so on. With the usual major provisos about FR24 data (it does show the aircraft airborne at 93kts), it is reasonably clear that it never achieved a normal climb rate for more than a few seconds and therefore it is obvious it never climbed much higher than the surrounding terrain. I'm not current on B737 MAX but my understanding is that MCAS would not be active with flaps out as they must have been at that stage. It did however accelerate in forward speed considerably so it was not short of power.
Bear in mind there is a new reformist PM running Ethiopia who is of a different tribe to the previous power holders and that the flight was to Kenya which has, along with Ethiopia had some security issues with Somalian groups. Nonetheless the profile tends to indicate the cause may lie in the territory of spatial disorientation, configuration, mishandling or technical failure. Not casting unfair aspertions but that is often where the cause lies.
RIP

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Whether or not the MCAS is to blame, remains to be seen.
Fact is, that someone at Boeing RIGHT NOW is saying to himself: “I sure hope that the MCAS has nothing to do with it...!”
What a tragedy.
Fact is, that someone at Boeing RIGHT NOW is saying to himself: “I sure hope that the MCAS has nothing to do with it...!”
What a tragedy.

And now back to your flight simulator.
