An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 sits grounded at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. AP
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 sits grounded at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. AP
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 sits grounded at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. AP
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 sits grounded at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. AP

Ethiopian Airlines denies reports that plane crash findings are due this week


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Ethiopian Airlines said on Wednesday that it denied comments attributed to its Group chief executive that a preliminary version of the report on what caused Flight 302 to crash would be released late this week.

Previous reports quoted both Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam and a spokesperson for Ethiopia's transport ministry saying a preliminary report on the plane crash that killed 157 on March 10 will be made public soon.

Mr Tewolde told Reuters on Monday he expected the preliminary release of a report into the crash of its Boeing 737 800 MAX "maybe this week or next week".
But in a statement on Wednesday, Ethiopian Airlines said the "Group CEO did not say anything about the time the investigation report will be released".

The airline asked "all concerned to refrain from making such uninformed, incorrect, irresponsible and misleading statements".

The reporting by Reuters was supported by comments from an Ethiopian transport ministry spokesperson, who also said the release was imminent.

The final report may take months to complete but a preliminary report may be released "anytime soon," the spokesman for Ethiopia's transport ministry told the Associated Press.

"A date has not been set but it will be released later this week," Mussie Yiheyis told the Associated Press on Tuesday, adding that a high ranking government official will announce the preliminary result.

"The US National Transportation Safety Board, France's BEA and an Ethiopian Transport Ministry department have been conducting the investigation," he said. "It has been conducted as per International Civil Aviation Organization rules and regulations."

On Monday, Mr Tewolde also said the pilots who flew the plane that crashed on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa, had trained on "all appropriate simulators," rejecting reports that they had not been adequately prepared to handle the new aircraft.

There is speculation that the software could have contributed to the crash as well as to the crash of another Boeing 737 Max 8, a Lion Air flight in Indonesia in October.

Regulators say both planes had similar erratic flight paths shortly after take-off, an important part of their decision to ground the roughly 370 Max 8 planes around the world.

The Ethiopian transport ministry spokesman explained that Ethiopia has led the investigation into the crash with assistance from US and French investigators as part of the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Ethiopian Airlines, widely seen as Africa's best-managed airline, had been using five of the Max 8 planes and was awaiting delivery of 25 more. The airline has not made a decision on whether or not to cancel that order.

Boeing is updating the plane's anti-stall software and has invited more than 200 pilots, technical experts and regulators to its factory in Renton, Washington, for a briefing.

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

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A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

Match info

Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335

Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs

Dubai World Cup factbox

Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)

Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)

Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)

Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETamer%20Ruggli%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadine%20Labaki%2C%20Fanny%20Ardant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A