By Addis Getachew
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) – Preliminary data retrieved from the flight recorder of an ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines plane shows similarities with an earlier Indonesia crash, an Ethiopian official said on Sunday.
Ethiopia's Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges said the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the crashed ET-302 flight have been uploaded successfully.
“We have taken over the contents of the FDR and CVR recordings,” she said, adding that the international experts and the U.S. analysts confirmed the authenticity of the recordings.
All 157 people on board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET-302 were killed when it crashed shortly after departing Ethiopia’s capital last Sunday.
According to the minister, it has been confirmed that the circumstance of the ET-302 flight crash was “similar ” to that of the Indonesia flight crash that involved the same type aircraft.
Boeing 737 Max 8 was also involved in an October crash outside of Jakarta. All 189 people on board Lion Air flight JT610 were killed. That crash also took place shortly after take-off.
“After further analysis of the recordings, the Ethiopian government will make the outcome public in a span of one month,” she added.
The FDR and VCR were discovered last Wednesday and taken to France for uploading and analysis.
After the fatal crash, countries all over the world grounded Boeing the 737 – Max 8 and 9 types.
