No survivors as Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes with 157 aboard

Timeline of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash (all times local):

The news of the plane crash in Ethiopia shattered more than two years of relative calm in Africa's skies. As millions on the continent headed to church on Sunday morning, an Ethiopian Airlines plane took off on a routine flight from Addis Ababa for Nairobi and quickly lost control. Six minutes later, all contact was lost. All 157 people aboard were killed, representing a staggering 35 countries. Here is a timeline of how the day unfolded. All times local.

8:38 a.m.: Flight ET302 takes off from Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. Records shared by Flightradar24 show that the plane's vertical speed quickly becomes erratic.

Shortly afterward: The pilot issues a distress call and is told to return.

8:44 a.m.: Contact with the plane is lost.

10:48 a.m.: The office of Ethiopia's prime minister in a Twitter post gives first word of the crash, offering "deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning."

11:15 a.m.: Ethiopian Airlines says it believes 149 passengers and eight crew members were on board the plane that crashed near Bishoftu, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) outside the capital.

1:35 p.m.: Ethiopia's state broadcaster reports that all passengers are dead.

2:45 p.m.: Ethiopian Airlines publishes a photo of its CEO standing in a crater amid the wreckage. Little of the plane can be seen in the freshly churned earth.

3:30 p.m.: The Ethiopian Airlines CEO and Kenya's transport minister say Canadians, Chinese, Americans and others are among the more than 30 nationalities of victims.

4:50 p.m.: The office of Ethiopia's prime minister says he has visited the crash site, expressed his "profound sadness" and ordered a full investigation.

5:35 p.m.: Ethiopian Airlines issues a new list of crash victims that includes 35 nationalities.

6:20 p.m.: As sunset approaches at the site, searchers and a bulldozer continue to pick through the scattered remains of the plane. The bulldozer digs for deeply embedded debris.

6:40 p.m.: Ethiopian Airlines says Ethiopian authorities, plane manufacturer Boeing and other international stakeholders will collaborate on an investigation into the cause of the crash.

8:25 p.m.: Ethiopia's House of People's Representatives declares Monday a national day of mourning for all victims.

BISHOFTU: A Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 crashed six minutes after an early-morning takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew on board, Ethiopian Airlines said as world leaders offered condolences to distraught next-of-kin.

People holding passports from 32 countries and the UN were on board the plane which ploughed into a field just 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa, the carrier's CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told journalists in the capital, lamenting this "very sad and tragic day." The crash came on the eve of a major, annual assembly in Nairobi of the UN Environment Programme, which learnt of the crash with "deep regret" but did not say whether any delegates were on the plane.

"We can only hope that she is not on that flight," Peter Kimani, who had come to fetch his sister at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), told AFP shortly after news of the crash reached those waiting in the arrivals hall.

State-owned Ethiopian Airlines, Africa's largest carrier, said the ill-fated Boeing 737-800MAX had taken off at 8:38 am (0538 GMT) from Bole International Airport and "lost contact" six minutes later.

Scheduled to land in Nairobi at 10:25 am (0725 GMT), it came down instead near the village of Tulu Fara outside Bishoftu.

An AFP reporter said there was a massive crater at the crash site, with belongings and plane parts scattered widely.

Rescue crews were retrieving human remains from the wreckage.

                                                                                                                                            File photo of Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737

Ethiopian Airlines confirmed "there are no survivors." Police and troops were on the scene, as well as a crash investigation team from Ethiopia's civil aviation agency.

In the Kenyan capital, family members, friends, and colleagues of passengers were frantically waiting for news at the airport.

"I am waiting for my colleague, I just hope for the best," added Hannah, a Chinese national.

Ethiopian Airlines said Kenya had the largest number of casualties with 32, followed by Canada with 18, Ethiopia with nine, then Italy, China, and the United States with eight each.

Britain and France each had seven people on board, Egypt six, the Netherlands five and India four.

Four were UN passport-holders.

African Union commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said he had learnt of the crash "with utter shock and immense sadness," while Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office tweeted it "would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones."

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said he was "saddened" by the news, and Mahboub Maalim, executive secretary of the IGAD East African bloc, said the region and the world were in mourning.

"I cannot seem to find words comforting enough to the families and friends of those who might have lost their lives in this tragedy," Maalim said in a statement.

For its part, the plane's maker, US giant Boeing, said it was "deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the passengers and crew on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a 737 MAX 8 plane.

"We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew on board and stand ready to support the Ethiopian Airlines team."

GebreMariam said the plane, delivered to Ethiopia on Nov.15, had flown in from Johannesburg early Sunday, and spent three hours in Addis before it was "despatched with no remark", meaning no problems were flagged.

Asked if the pilot had made a distress call, the CEO said "the pilot mentioned that he had difficulties and he wants to return. He was given clearance" to turn around.

Ethiopian and American investigators will probe the crash, said GebreMariam.

The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

The last major accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was a Boeing 737-800 that exploded after taking off from Lebanon in 2010, killing 83 passengers and seven crew.

For one family member waiting in Nairobi there was a happy ending.

"I arrived here shortly after 10:00 am and as I waited, a security person approached me and asked me which flight are you waiting for. I answered him quickly because I wanted him to direct me to the arrivals, so I told him Ethiopia, and then he said: 'Sorry, that one has crashed'," said Khalid Ali Abdulrahman, waiting for his son.

"I was shocked, but shortly after, my son contacted me and told me he is still in Addis and did not board that flight, he is waiting for the second one which has been delayed."

Agence France-Presse