Narobi - The black boxes from Sunday's
plane crash in Ethiopia could be sent to a "closer country in
Europe" rather than the United States for analysis, the chief
executive of Ethiopian Airlines told CNN on Wednesday.
Asked whether the voice and data recorders from Flight ET
302, which crashed outside Addis Ababa killing all 157 people on
board, would be taken to the United States, Ethiopian Airlines
CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said it had not been decided.
He added: "It could also be sent to a closer country in
Europe in the interest of proximity and in the interest of
speed."
The Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed just minutes after an early-morning takeoff Sunday from Addis Ababa.
A page of a flight crew operations manual is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa. Picture: Baz Ratner/Reuters
People holding passports from 35 countries were on board including some two dozen UN staff.
The aircraft was the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air plane that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew.
The latest crash has prompted airlines across the world to begin withdrawing the model from schedules.