Ethiopian Airlines crash kills everyone on board

Recovery workers on Monday resumed their search for the remains of the passengers and crew members who died Sunday after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed, killing all 157 people on board. The Boeing 737 Max 8 went down six minutes after take-off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The flight, which was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, had eight crew members and 149 passengers from 35 countries on board. Many of the passengers were traveling to a United Nations environmental conference that began Monday, including at least 19 employees of UN-affiliated organizations. The casualties included 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Americans, and individuals from China, Nigeria, Poland, Italy, and France, among other nations.

The airline said the senior pilot had issued a distress call and received permission to return to the airport before the plane lost contact. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash and found the flight’s “black box” on Monday. A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to arrive Tuesday to assist in the investigation. The same model of plane operated by the Indonesian airline Lion Air crashed in October minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board.

The Boeing Company said it will send a technical team to the crash site to assist investigators but added that it had no new guidance to issue to operators of the aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines spokesman Asrat Begashaw said the airline has grounded its four remaining 737 Max 8 planes until further notice. China, Indonesia, and the Cayman Islands have also grounded the plane. Two U.S. carriers that operate the plane, Southwest and American airlines, remain confident in the Boeing jet.