Boeing 737 MAX design blamed, a year after Ethiopian crash

A year after Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed shortly after take-off, killing all 157 on board, a village near the crash site held a memorial while in the United States a draft report blames the plane's design for the disaster.

Soraya Ali reports.

Residents living near the site where Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed a year ago held a memorial service on Sunday (March 8) at the site where 157 passengers and crew were killed.

Elders from the village Bishoftu said prayers and poured a traditional brew on the ground.

(SOUNDBITE) (Afaan Oromo) TRADITIONAL LEADER, ABBA MUDA YILMA RAGGASSA, SAYING: "The ritual we have performed here is what we normally do as a closure to end a mourning period.

We have been in mourning for a year." Though the period of mourning may be drawing to a close the search for answers continues.

The Boeing 737 MAX plane crashed in an open field six minutes after take off from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019.

On Friday (March 6) two people briefed on a draft interim report by Ethiopian investigators said it had concluded the plane's design was the cause.

The report has been circulated to U.S. government agencies.

Boeing, an American company, declined to comment; Ethiopian Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.

The Boeing 737 MAX has been grounded worldwide for nearly year after the Ethiopian crash and one in Indonesia.

On Friday, the U.S. House Transportation Committee also released its preliminary investigative findings on the two crashes.

It faulted the Federal Aviation Administration's approval of the plane and Boeing's design failures - and called the 737 MAX flights quote "doomed".

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