By Abisola THOMPSON
Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, has pledged full and transparent cooperation in the ongoing investigation to unravel the cause of clash of its B737 Max Airplane on March 10.
TBI Africa said GabreMariam made the pledge in a statement on Monday in Addis Ababa and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He explained that the investigation of the accident was well underway towards unraveling the truth, saying he did not want to speculate as to the cause at this point in time.
“As it is well known in our global aviation industry, the differences training between the B-737 NG and the B-737 MAX recommended by Boeing and approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration called for computer-based training, but we went beyond that.
“After the Lion Air accident in October, our pilots who fly the Boeing 737 Max 8 were fully trained on the service bulletin issued by Boeing and the Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued by the USA FAA.
“Among the seven Full Flight Simulators that we own and operate, two of them are for B-737 NG and the B-737 MAX. We are the only airline in Africa among the very few in the world with the B-737 MAX full flight Simulator.
“Contrary to some media reports, our pilots who fly the new model were trained on all appropriate simulators as the crews were well trained on this aircraft.
GabreMariam said that Ethiopian Airlines decided to ground its fleet of Max8s immediately after the crash, owing to the similarity with the Lion Air Accident in October 2018.
He added that the plane had been grounded around the world within days, saying until answers were provided, putting one more life at risk was too much.
“It has been more than two weeks since the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302.
“The heartbreak for the families of the passengers and crew who perished will be lasting and this has forever changed their lives, and we at Ethiopian Airlines will feel the pain forever.
“We pledge to work with Boeing and our colleagues in all the airlines to make air travel even safer,” he said.
Ethiopian Airlines boss said the carrier believes in Boeing which had been its partner for many years, adding that more than two-thirds of its fleet is Boeing.
According to him, ET is the first African airline to fly the B767, 757, 777-200LR, and the second nation in the world after Japan to take delivery of the 787 Dreamliner.
