Ethiopia: Airline hits back on pilot training claims

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) – Ethiopian Airlines on Friday hit back at a New York Times report alleging that the captain of a Boeing passenger jet that crashed earlier this month, killing all 157 people on board, had not received sufficient training, in particular simulator training.

“Ethiopian Airlines pilots completed the Boeing-recommended and FAA-approved differences training from the B-737 NG aircraft to the B-737 MAX aircraft before the phase-in of the B-737-8 MAX fleet to the Ethiopian operation and before they start flying the B-737-8 MAX,” said a statement by the airlines, referring to the model of the plane that crashed, which has come under heightened scrutiny.

“The B-737 MAX full flight simulator is not designed to simulate the MCAS system problems,” the statement added, referring to the automated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which has been identified as a likely cause of the crash.

A Times article on Monday claimed that “the captain of the doomed Flight 302 never trained on the simulator,” citing “people close to the airline’s operations.”

Ethiopian Airlines decried what it called “uninformed, incorrect, irresponsible and misleading statements during the period of the accident investigation,” urging people to “wait patiently for the result of the investigation.”

On March 10, an Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET-302 crashed six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, killing 149 passengers and eight crew members.

The accident sent global shockwaves, as the victims represented 35 nationalities, and the Boeing model involved soon faced widespread grounding, as news of other accidents and near-accidents emerged.