Investigators seeking the cause of the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed all 157 people on board have begun studying the cockpit voice recorder, France
ADDIS ABABA/PARIS (Reuters) – Investigators seeking the cause of the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed all 157 people on board have begun studying the cockpit voice recorder, France’s BEA air accident investigation agency said on Saturday.
Downloading the data from the recorder retrieved from wreckage of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane was expected to take four to five hours, a spokesman for the agency said.
The BEA also issued a photo showing the recorder intact but dented by the impact of the plane’s crash into a field on Sunday minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa.
The Ethiopian carrier said DNA testing of the remains of the people on board flight 302 may take up to six months, and it offered bereaved families charred earth from the plane crash site to bury. Passengers from more than 30 nations were aboard.
As families wait for the results from the investigation into the cause of the crash, Ethiopian Airlines is planning to hold a service on Sunday in Addis Ababa, at the Kidist Selassie, or Holy Trinity Cathedral, where many of the country’s past rulers are buried beneath its pink stone spires.
