The year since the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max has been a journey through grief, anger and determination for Ruth Kageche, Zipporah Kuria and others whose loved ones were on the plane.
Grief at the staggering toll: 157 lives lost when the plane crashed six minutes after takeoff.
Anger that the plane was flying at all, five months after another brand-new 737 Max crashed off the coast of Indonesia, killing 189 people.
And finally, determination to pressure Boeing and aviation regulators: If they were ever going to let the plane fly again, to make it as safe as possible, with pilots who were better informed and trained about the MaxB次元官网网址檚 unique flight-control system.
The crash was not only devastating for the families of victims, it had far-reaching consequences for the aeronautics industry as it brought about the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 jets, which remain out of service.
Flight 302 took off from Addis Ababa airport the morning of March 10, 2019. Almost immediately, the pilots reported problems with the plane and asked for permission to return to the airport. They never made it. After a struggle to control the plane, it nose-dived into a barren patch of land about 40 miles from Addis Ababa.
The flight was headed to Nairobi, and 32 of the passengers were Kenyan, the largest number of the 35 nationalities on board. The Rev. George Mukua Kageche, a Catholic priest, was among the passengers, returning home on his annual leave from Rome.
A year later his sister, Ruth Kageche, visited his grave on the familyB次元官网网址檚 farm in Kenya where she buried what she said were the B次元官网网址渇ragmentsB次元官网网址� of her brother returned to her B次元官网网址� a hand, a few bits of flesh and bone and a piece of the priestB次元官网网址檚 robe he was wearing that morning.
Kageche said that since receiving the remains, neither she nor any family member has received any assistance or compensation from the airline or Boeing.
B次元官网网址淎ctually they called us to go for the fragments and from there, they just kept quiet,B次元官网网址� said Kageche. B次元官网网址淣ow itB次元官网网址檚 the time they have started talking about the memorial.B次元官网网址�
Families of the passengers have filed more than 100 lawsuits against Boeing. The Kageche familyB次元官网网址檚 lawyer, Irungu KangB次元官网网址檃ta, said B次元官网网址渕ore and more evidence has been coming up that shows that Boeing had done something bad.B次元官网网址� He pointed to messages and emails between Boeing employees including test pilots and production manager who had safety concerns about the Max, especially a flight-control system called MCAS that was not included on previous 737 models. These confessions, KangB次元官网网址檃ta said, boost the victimsB次元官网网址� cases.
The sharp pain of bereavement continues for Kageche and her family.
B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 think our hearts will ever heal and we need a lot of counselling to forget about these things,B次元官网网址� she said, adding that professional help has not been offered to the family.
A private commemoration at the site of the crash for family members of crash victims has been planned by Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing. Family members from the United States, Canada and other parts of the world are being flown to Addis Ababa at BoeingB次元官网网址檚 expense for the memorial. Ethiopian officials did not plan to allow press coverage.
Zipporah Kuria, who lives in Britain, said she was appalled when family members got very little notice in November, and were unable to attend, when dozens of coffins bearing unidentified remains including those of her father, Joseph Waithaka, were buried in a mass grave. Photos circulated online of the coffins waiting to be covered, with a bulldozer and mounds of dirt in the background.
B次元官网网址淭hey were buried as if they were people who didnB次元官网网址檛 have anyone who cared for them. They were robbed of their lives, and then they were robbed of their dignity,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e hoping that by coming together on the 10th where their remains now rest, we can begin to experience some form of closure.B次元官网网址�
Kuria and her mother and two brothers plan to attend from the U.K.
In Canada, in suburban Toronto, Clariss Moore decided to go to Ethiopia for the memorial, but her husband, Chris, will stay home and visit a body of water, maybe a canal in Ottawa or a beach on Lake Ontario, to honour their daughter Danielle, a 24-year-old marine biologist who perished in the crash.
Chris Moore has already visited the site in Ethiopia and upon seeing it, realized the enormous impact of the crash. He took some comfort in knowing that his daughter must have died instantly. Now he is determined to continue to lobby Canadian and U.S. regulators to put the retooled Boeing Max under the toughest possible scrutiny. He is already looking ahead to a hearing later this month in CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Parliament.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 going through a constructive grieving process,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 trying to do something positive out of this B次元官网网址� making something better, because March 10 was the worst day of my life.B次元官网网址�
Nadia Milleron and Michael Stumo of Massachusetts, who lost their daughter Samya in the crash, are planning to attend the ceremony, along with SamyaB次元官网网址檚 two brothers and her partner.
B次元官网网址淚 am definitely dreading the day,B次元官网网址� Milleron said. B次元官网网址淚 have been there twice. I think about Samya approaching the ground and being alive B次元官网网址� maybe IB次元官网网址檓 walking in a place where she was last alive.B次元官网网址�
Milleron, however, has major reservations about the event. She said Boeing has been sensitive to the feelings of passengersB次元官网网址� families and will not have a major presence at TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 event, but Ethiopian Airlines has largely shut families out of planning the ceremony and a permanent memorial that will be built at the crash site.
B次元官网网址淓thiopian Airlines didnB次元官网网址檛 even want the memorial program,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚n December, they said to us, B次元官网网址榃hy are you coming? You werenB次元官网网址檛 invited.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
Now, she said, Ethiopian officials are fighting familiesB次元官网网址� requests to have Don Edkins, a South African documentary maker whose son Max died in the crash, film the event, and to consider a memorial design by Adrian Toole, a U.K. citizen whose daughter Joanna was also on the plane.
Relatives of the passengers say that Ethiopian Airlines has not shared all details about the ceremony, and it is unclear whether the airlineB次元官网网址檚 CEO will speak.
B次元官网网址淚f he talks, the families wonB次元官网网址檛 boo,B次元官网网址� Milleron said. B次元官网网址淭hey will just be quiet and be very upset.B次元官网网址�
Kuria said the CEO should not speak, but she thinks both Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing have their own motives for organizing the event.
B次元官网网址淲e are under no illusion that the companies are doing this for us,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e are not oblivious to the fact that itB次元官网网址檚 also partially in service of themselves to repair their reputations.B次元官网网址�
Family members like Kuria, Milleron, Stumo and the Moores say their year of grieving has been wrenching, but they are proud of raising questions about aviation safety and pressing for greater scrutiny of new planes.
One year after the crash investigations are continuing into the crash. An official with the Ethiopian transport ministry said an interim report on the crash is expected to be released soon. B次元官网网址淚t is still being worked on. The plan it to release it ahead of the crash anniversary,B次元官网网址� he told The Associated Press, on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Yonathan Menkir Kassa, an aviation writer based in EthiopiaB次元官网网址檚 capital, Addis Ababa, said the interim report on the crash is expected B次元官网网址渁nytime soon as early as next week.B次元官网网址�
The Ethiopian crash came almost five months after a strikingly similar crash in Indonesia of the same model aircraft. Together the two crashes led to a grounding of all Boeing 737 Max jets, more than 380 planes used by more than 50 airlines around the world. Boeing initially expressed confidence that the planes would soon be returned to service, but no date has been set.
Ethiopian Airlines has had less disruption to its operations and in October announced it earned an operating profit of $260 million for the year, according to Yonathan. The investigation is being conducted in Ethiopia where there is not a strong independent media, human rights protection and transparent legal proceedings, he said.
Roland Rehhorn, whose daughter, Angela, died in the crash, travelled from Canada to Ethiopia for the memorial.
B次元官网网址淥ur memorial committee has done a pretty good job in getting information to us. But there were difficult moments trying to get information from Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing,B次元官网网址� said Rehhorn.
B次元官网网址淟ooking back, I feel that this is a crash that could have been avoided. I think there were some oversights and hopefully moving forward those oversights will never happen again,B次元官网网址� said Rehhorn. B次元官网网址淚 think we want the crash to be a memorial site but also we want the people around that area to have better opportunities, not just a memorial. We want to make sure that the local people have better opportunities, too.B次元官网网址�
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Koenig reported from Dallas, Texas, and Kaviti reported from Nairobi, Kenya.
Elias Meseret, David Koenig And Geoffrey Kaviti, The Associated Press
