OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:51 AM PT — Monday, March 11, 2019
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed his condolences to the 157 victims of a recent air crash in Ethiopia. In a tweet Sunday, Pompeo said U.S. embassies in Ethiopia and Kenya are working to provide assistance to everybody affected by the incident.
Meanwhile, the embassy in Addis Ababa said it’s working to establish the identities of U.S. nationals, who were on board the aircraft. The Boeing 737 crashed with 157 people on board Sunday, including eight Americans, while en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya.
My condolences to the families of the Americans and all others affected by the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines. @USEmbassyAddis and @USEmbassyKenya are working tirelessly to offer all possible assistance.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 11, 2019
Pompeo’s remarks came just before recovery crews discovered the black box from that plane, which could provide valuable information on what led to the crash. The box contains voice recordings from the cockpit and data from the flight.
Wreckage is piled at the crash scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, March 11, 2019. A spokesman says Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft as a safety precaution, following the crash of one of its planes in which 157 people are known to have died. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
The plane went down near the town of Bishoftu Sunday, just moments after takeoff. Although a cause for the crash is still unclear, Ethiopian Airlines said the pilot reported difficulties on the plane and requested permission to return.
Authorities are hoping this latest development will help them piece together the moments leading up to the accident.
Airports around the world are grounding all Boeing 737 planes since the incident as this is the second crash involving the plane model to take place within the past six-months.