Relatives react at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 13, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Flight recorders from a doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight arrived in France for analysis Thursday as frustrated relatives of the 157 people killed stormed out of a meeting with airline officials in Addis Ababa.
Sunday's crash was the second fatal flight for a Boeing 737 Max 8 in less than six months. More than 40 countries, including the U.S., have now grounded the planes or refused to let them into their airspace.
After holding out for several days, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order grounding the planes Wednesday, saying they had new satellite data and evidence that showed the movements of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 were similar to those of Lion Air Flight 610. That flight crashed into the Java Sea off Indonesia in October, killing 189 people.
Officials at Lion Air have said sensors on their plane produced erroneous information on its last four flights, triggering an automatic nose-down command that the pilots were unable to overcome on its final voyage.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said its pilots had received special training on how to deal with that problem.
"In addition to the basic trainings given for 737 aircraft types, an additional training was given for the Max version," Tewolde said. "After the Lion Air crash, questions were raised, so Boeing sent further instructions that it said pilots should know."
Two men carry suitcases containing the flight recorders from the Ethiopian jet, into the French air accident investigation authority, March 14, 2019 Le Bourget, north of Paris. (Photo: Christophe Ena/AP)
Tewolde said he is confident the investigation will reveal that the crash is not related to the safety record of Ethiopian Airlines, widely seen as the best-managed in Africa.
Firm answers about what caused the crash could take months. The French air accident investigation authority, known by its French acronym BEA, said Thursday it will handle the analysis of the flight recorders, often referred to as a plane's black boxes, retrieved from the crash site.
The BEA has experience with global air crashes, and its expertise is often sought whenever an Airbus plane crashes because the manufacturer is based in France. A BEA official told The Associated Press that the recorders have already arrived in France but gave no time frame on how long the analysis could take.
In Addis Ababa, about 200 angry family members of crash victims left a briefing with Ethiopian Airlines officials, saying that the carrier has not given them adequate information. Officials said they have opened a call-in center that is open 18 hours a day to respond to questions, but family members said they are not getting the answers they need. People from 35 countries died.
At the crash scene in Hejere, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Addis Ababa, growing numbers of family members arrived, some wailing or beating their chests as a bulldozer navigated piles of debris. Blue plastic sheeting covered the wreckage of the plane. (AP)
Wreckage lies at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 12, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
A family member reacts at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 13, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Ethiopian relatives of crash victims mourn and grieve at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, south-east of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia Thursday, March 14, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Ethiopian relatives of crash victims mourn at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, south-east of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 14, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
An Ethiopian relative of a crash victim throws dirt in her own face after realising that there is nothing physical left of her loved one, as she mourns at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, south-east of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 14, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Foreign investigators examine wreckage at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia March 12, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
A boarding pass is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. (Photo: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)
Rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Flowers are seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. (Photo: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)
Clothing lies on the ground at the crash scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, March 11, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 to Nairobi crashed early on Sunday near the town of Bishoftu, 62 kilometers southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people aboard. (Graphic: Reuters)
Search workers carry a tyre at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. (Photo: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)
Wreckage is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. (Photo: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)
A component from a computer is seen behind a police cordon at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. (Photo: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)
Relatives of the victims involved in a plane crash wait for information at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, March 10, 2019. (Photo: Khalil Senosi/AP)
In this image taken from video, rescuers search through wreckage at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff at Hejere near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 10, 2019. (Photo: Yidnek Kirubel/AP)
Rescuers remove body bags from the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff at Hejere near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 10, 2019. (Photo: AP)
Family members of the victims involved in a plane crash react at Addis Ababa international airport, March 10, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Wreckage lies at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff at Hejere near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 10, 2019. (Photo: AP)
A family member of a victim involved in a plane crash talks on a mobile phone at Addis Ababa international airport, March 10, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Workers gather at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Relatives of the victims involved in a plane crash board a bus at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, March 10, 2019, to travel to a hotel to receive more information. (Photo: Khalil Senosi/AP)
A piece of the wreckage of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff lies at the scene at Hejere near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 10, 2019. (Photo: Yidnek Kirubel/AP)
Rescuers search at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff at the scene at Hejere near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, March 10, 2019. (Photo: Yidnek Kirubel/AP)
Airplane parts lie on the ground at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
Members of the Ethiopian community take part in a special prayer for the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crash, at the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada Saint Mary Cathedral in Toronto, March 10, 2019. (Photo: Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
A passenger passport lies on the ground at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 11, 2019. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene/AP)
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