DEATH SPIRAL
Doomed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing ‘swerved, dipped and had smoke pouring from the rear’ before crashing with ‘a loud boom’ killing all 157 on board, witness says
A DOOMED Ethiopian Airlines flight swerved and dipped and was belching smoke from the rear before it crashed with 157 on board, a witness said today.
He also said the Boeing 737 Max 8 was making a strange noise before hitting the ground with a "large boom" and a shower of flaming luggage.
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Crash investigators today recovered the black box flight recorder from a crater the size of a basketball court.
They hope it will yield clues to why the brand-new plane crashed yesterday killing all on board including nine Brits.
Eyewitness Gebeyehu Fikadu, 25, he saw it come down while collecting firewood with other locals.
He said: "I was in the mountain nearby when I saw the plane reach the mountain before turning around with a lot of smoke coming from the back and then crashed at this site.
"It crashed with a large boom. When it crashed luggage and clothes came burning down.
"Before it crashed the plane was swerving and dipping with a lot of smoke coming from the back and also making a very loud unpleasant sound before hitting the ground."
FINAL MOMENTS
Last night the harrowing final seconds of flight ET302 were revealed by flight radar data, which showed it repeatedly climbed, fell and climbed again soon after takeoff from Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport.
Aviation experts said this "unstable vertical speed" is extremely unusual and planes usually climb steadily.
Crash investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board will arrive tomorrow to help piece together what went wrong, the US ambassador to Ethiopia said.
Meanwhile Indonesia became the fourth country to ban all Max 8 jets from flying over safety concerns. Another plane of the same model crashed near Jakarta in October.
Aviation expert Mary Schiavo said Boeing should ground all the jets until they know what went wrong.
She said: "I think Boeing should take the lead -- Boeing should do it."
Boeing spokesman Charlie Miller said: "Safety is our number one priority and we are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved.
"The investigation is in its early stages, but at this point, based on the information available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators."
The 737 Max series, introduced only two years ago, is the company's fastest selling model and seen as crucial for its commercial future.
American Airlines, which has ordered more than 100, said it has "full confidence" in the planes but Boeing's share price plunged 13 per cent following the disaster.
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WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?
The British death toll was today revised from seven to at least nine.
The Foreign Office said: "Our staff at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa are continuing to work with the relevant authorities in Ethiopia to obtain further information.
"We extend our deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones and those affected by this tragic event."
The latest victim to be named is Sam Pegram, 25, from Penwortham, Lancashire, who worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council and was on his way to Nairobi.
His mum Deborah told the : "Sam was so looking forward to going to Nairobi. He loved the work he was doing.
"We can't believe this has happened. We're totally devastated."
The latest two victims named were British-Somali mother and son Sahra Hassan Said and Nasrudin Abdulkadir.
Many of the 149 passengers were heading to a United Nations environment conference in Nairobi, including animal expert Joanna Toole, 36, from Devon.
Her father Adrian described her as a "very soft and loving" person whose "work was not a job - it was her vocation".
He told the BBC: "She had never really wanted to do anything else but work in animal welfare since she was a child.
"Somehow that work took her into the international sphere and for the last 15 years she has been working for international animal welfare organisations.
"That involves a lot of travelling around the world - although personally I never wanted her to be on a single one of those planes.
"It's just tragic that she couldn't carry on to further her career and achieve more."
Polar tourism expert Sarah Auffret, who had dual British and French nationality, and dad Joseph Waithaka, 55, from Hull, also died.
Mr Waithaka lived in Hull for ten years before he moved back to Kenya in 2015, but his wife and children still live in the city.
His grown-up son Ben Kuria, who lives in London, said: "It is really surreal as he was in my flat just a few hours before and we were having a meal together.
“It is jolting and I am still in shock to be honest. It happened thousands of miles away and I am still trying to make sense of everything.
Where were the victims from?
The Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed today was carrying passengers from more than 30 countries, the airline's CEO told journalists.
He said they included 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese citizens, eight Americans, seven British citizens, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Dutch citizens, four Indians, four people from Slovakia, three Austrians, three Swedes, three Russians, two Moroccans, two Spaniards, two Poles and two Israelis.
Belgium, Ireland Indonesia, Somalia, Norway, Serbia, Togo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen each had one citizen onboard.
Four of those onboard were listed as using United Nations passports and their nationalities were not immediately clear.
“He came to my flat in London on Saturday night on his way to Heathrow from Hull and we had a meal together.
"He called me later to say he had boarded his flight at 8pm and I said ‘see you later’.
“When I woke up on Sunday I saw a message on my news app about the airline crash and I quickly put two and two together."
Doctors, aid workers and three members of a Slovakian MP's family along with a pair f Russian tourists on their way to a dream holiday in Kenya.
Ex-marine Alexander Polyakov posted an anxious-looking selfie with model wife Ekaterina Polyakova before boarding the doomed jet.
Irishman Michael Ryan was among the seven dead from the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), a Rome-based humanitarian organisation.
Eight Americans and 18 Canadians were also on board, along with citizens of more than 30 other countries.
A total of 21 victims worked for the United Nations.
Secretary-General António Guterres said: "A global tragedy has hit close to home — and the UN is united in grief."
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
The plane took off at 8.38am and climbed to 8,500ft – but contact was lost after six minutes.
The captain had reported difficulties and asked to turn back, according to the airline’s CEO Tewolde GebreMariam.
He added the pilot had an “excellent flying record” and clocked up more than 8,000 hours experience.
The plane, delivered only months ago, had flown from Johannesburg to Addis earlier on Sunday morning, and underwent "rigorous" testing on February 4.
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Ethiopian Transport Secretary holds a press conference after an Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for Nairobi crashed
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