Category / East Africa

Narcity The Plane In The Ethiopian Airlines Crash Is The Same Model Used By Popular Canadian Airlines
by Crimson Tazvinzwa

Boeing faces losing billions over 737 Max 8; U.S. airlines shuffle flights

A baggage cart passes a Southwest Airlines 737 Max 8 airliner Wednesday at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Mo. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo
A baggage cart passes a Southwest Airlines 737 Max 8 airliner Wednesday at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Mo. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

United, Southwest and American Airlines have been affected by the grounding of the new Boeing model – AIWA! NO!

March 14 (UPI) — Boeing stands to lose billions over the fallout from the global grounding of its 737 Max 8 aircraft and airlines are reshuffling flights to accommodate concern for the new airliner’s safety.

After days of resisting, Boeing made a recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration Wednesday to temporarily suspend flights of its 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft. Many others, including the European Union, Britain and Canada, had already grounded the plane and barred flights in their airspace.

The decision came three days after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed and killed all 157 people aboard. The crash had many similarities to an accident involving another Max 8, flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air, in October.

“We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said.

RELATED Trump orders FAA to ground Boeing 737 Max 8, Max 9 planes

Boeing’s Max series aircraft replaced the 737-800 and made its first commercial flight in 2017. A high-density version of the Max 8, the Max 200, was set to enter service next month. It’s unclear whether the Ethiopian crash will affect its launch. The Max 9, with a longer fuselage, entered service last year. The new planes cost about $50 million each.

Wall Street firms Melius Research and Jefferies estimate the grounding could cost Boeing between $1 billion and $5 billion. The estimates are based on the planes being grounded for three months. Boeing reported a profit of $10.6 billion in 2018.

This isn’t the first time this decade Boeing has faced trouble with a new aircraft model. In 2013, it grounded the new 787 Dreamliner after lithium ion batteries caught fire on multiple flights. With only about 50 Dreamliners in service at the time, however, the impact was smaller.

RELATED All 157 aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight killed in crash

Wednesday’s decision sent U.S. carriers United, American and Southwest scrambling to replace Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft on their flight schedules. American and Southwest fly the Max 8 and United has Max 9s. American had been flying more than 80 Max 8 flights per day.

Southwest said it plans to operate its schedule with every available airplane in the fleet to meet the changes. The airline won’t charge passengers to change flights within 14 days of the original date of travel.

“We have been constant contact with the FAA and Boeing since Ethiopian Airlines’ accident,” Southwest said in a statement. “While we remain confident in the Max 8 after completing more than 88,000 flight hours accrued over 41,000 flights, we support the actions of the FAA and other regulatory agencies and governments across the globe that have asked for further review of the data — including information from the flight data recorder.”RELATED Dow Jones rebounds from Boeing losses, closes up 201 points

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the carrier is working to “minimize disruptions to our customers’ travel plans.”

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Daily Express flights ethiopian airlines 737 max air crash plane safe news latest
by Crimson Tazvinzwa

A Georgetown University law student who reportedly expressed a fear of flying is among the 157 dead in the Ethiopian Airlines crash

Cedric Asiavugwa
Cedric Asiavugwa, a student at Georgetown Law School, is among the 157 who died Sunday in an Ethiopian Airlines crash.
  • Georgetown University law student Cedric Asiavugwa was among the 157 killed when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday morning.
  • The 32-year-old was on his way home to Kenya to attend the funeral of his fiancé’s mother.
  • An email sent out to the Georgetown community described Asiavugwa as a “stellar student” and “a dedicated champion for social justice.”

A Georgetown University law student is among the 157 dead after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday morning near Addis Ababa.
Cedric Asiavagwa4 202x300
Asiavugwa was on his way home to Kenya to attend the funeral of his fiancé’s mother, the school said.

Cedric Asiavugwa, a third-year student at Georgetown Law, was on his way home to Kenya to attend the funeral of his fiancé’s mother, according to an email from law school Dean William Treanor and Rev. Mark Bosco, Georgetown’s vice president for mission and ministry.

“With his passing, the Georgetown family has lost a stellar student, a great friend to many, and a dedicated champion for social justice across East Africa and the world,” the statement said.

Sarah Decker was one of Asiavugwa’s classmates, and told WJLA he talked about being nervous to fly back to Africa in their last conversation.

Decker said Asiavugwa was supposed to spend spring break visiting friends in Chicago, but had to change his plans at the last minute when his fiancé’s mother died.

She said she told Asiavugwa to relax by thinking about something other than the flight.

“It was almost surreal getting that email because it was what he had feared when he was talking to us about flying. So that was really hard,” Decker told WJLA.

She added: “He was brilliant, really kind, and very humble. He always had something really amazing to say.”

georgetown
A picture of the Georgetown campus in August 2018.

The Georgetown email spelled out Asiavugwa’s many accomplishments, from helping found an organization to help women and children fleeing war-torn Somalia to working at a free school in Kenya for orphans with HIV/AIDS.

Metro No survivors of Ethiopian Airlines plane crash with 157 people on board
by Crimson Tazvinzwa

Ethiopian Airlines crash a disaster for humanitarian agencies

The flag of the United Nations is flown at half-mast, the morning after an Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet to Nairobi crashed.TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Ethiopian Airlines grounds its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet until further notice – AIWA! NO!

The United Nations is “united in grief” in the aftermath of an Ethiopian plane crash that killed at least 21 staff workers from at least five UN agencies, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres says.

The crash of the Ethiopian Airlines jet, shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday, has been a catastrophe for the world’s humanitarian community. In addition to the 21 victims from UN agencies, many other workers from private relief agencies were among the 157 passengers and crew who were killed in the crash.

Flights between Addis Ababa and Nairobi are often filled with staff from humanitarian organizations, since both cities are major hubs and regional centres for UN agencies, private relief groups, diplomatic offices and other international missions.

Explainer: Ethiopian Airlines crash: What we know so far about the disaster and the 157 victims

Jessica Hyba, a longtime worker at the UN refugee agency UNHCR and previously at CARE Canada, was one of 18 Canadians who died in the crash. She had been the senior external relations officer at the Mogadishu office of UNHCR and was among three workers at the agency who died.

Among the other relief agencies whose staff died in the plane crash were CARE, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, the Red Cross of Norway, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Italian humanitarian agency Africa Tremila, and a number of human rights and civil society organizations.

Many were attending the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, which began on Monday morning with a moment of silence for the victims as the assembly’s flags were lowered to half-mast.

Danielle Moore, a 24-year-old Canadian who worked for a Winnipeg charitable organization, was travelling to Nairobi to attend the UN Environment Assembly when she died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

“The global tragedy has hit close to home, and the UN is united in grief,” Mr. Guterres said at the opening of a UN women’s conference in New York on Monday.

He said the UN victims “all had one thing in common: the spirit to serve the world and to make it a better place for all.”

Among the UN agencies that lost staff in the crash are the World Food Program, UNHCR, the UN Environment Program, the International Telecommunications Union, and the International Organization for Migration.

Seven staff workers of the World Food Program were among those who died. “Each of these WFP colleagues were willing to travel and work far from their homes and loved ones to help make the world a better place to live,” WFP executive director David Beasley said in a statement. “That was their calling, as it is for the rest of the WFP family.”

Catholic Relief Services said four of its staff members were killed in the crash. The four were Ethiopians who were travelling to Nairobi to attend training.

Narcity The Plane In The Ethiopian Airlines Crash Is The Same Model Used By Popular Canadian Airlines
by Crimson Tazvinzwa

China and Indonesia halt Boeing 737 MAX 8 after Ethiopia crash

The Straits Times Two short, erratic flights end in tragedy: Could Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes be linked?
The Straits TimesTwo short, erratic flights end in tragedy: Could Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes be linked?

Two short, erratic flights end in tragedy: Could Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes be linked? – AIWA! NO!

ADDIS ABABA/BEIJING (Reuters) – China, Indonesia and Ethiopia grounded their Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 fleets on Monday while investigators found the black box from a crash that killed 157 people in the second disaster involving that airplane model in six months.

The Ethiopian Airlines jet bound for Nairobi came down minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing all on board. The victims came from 33 nations and included 22 United Nations’ staff.

RELATED COVERAGE

The discovery of the black box with both the cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data, reported by Ethiopian state TV, should shed light on the cause of the crash.

At the scene, men in Red Cross jackets picked through the dirt, putting items in black paper bags, while investigators hunted for the black box voice recorders.

“Although we don’t yet know the cause of the crash, we had to decide to ground the particular fleet as extra safety precaution,” Ethiopian Airlines said. It has four other 737 MAX 8 jets, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

The 737 line is the world’s best selling modern passenger aircraft and viewed as one of the industry’s most reliable.Airplane engine parts are seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

CHINA’S ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’

China on Monday also ordered its airlines to suspend operations of their 737 MAX 8 jets by 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) following the second crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jet since one run by Indonesia’s Lion Air went down in October.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said it would notify airlines when they could resume flying the jets, after contacting Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Given that two accidents both involved newly delivered Boeing 737-8 planes and happened during take-off phase, they have some degree of similarity,” the CAAC said, adding the step was in line with its principle of zero tolerance of safety hazards. The 737 MAX 8 is sometimes referred to as the 737-8.

Africa has been dealing with the impacts of climate change since the 1970s. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described the African continent as the one that will be most affected.
by Crimson Tazvinzwa

What does Africa need to tackle climate change?

Out of the 10 countries most affected by greenhouse gas emissions, six of them are in Africa, yet the continent only receives 5 percent of dedicated climate funding, writes Abou-Sabaa [Reuters]
Out of the 10 countries most affected by greenhouse gas emissions, six of them are in Africa, yet the continent only receives 5 percent of dedicated climate funding, writes Abou-Sabaa [Reuters]

One Planet Summit showcases Africa’s role against climate change – Maria Macharia

While Africa is responsible for merely 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, 65 percent of the continent’s estimated population of 1,3 billion people is considered to be directly impacted by climate change.

It is against the backdrop of this irony that global leaders, entrepreneurs, international organizations, and civil society meet in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Thursday next week to help accelerate focus and attention on climate investments in line with the Paris Agreement objectives.

The stakeholders will meet under the auspices of the One Planet Summit (OPS), which also focuses on promoting renewable energies, fostering resilience and adaptation and protecting biodiversity in the continent.

“OPS, which is in its third edition, is the French initiative to engage states and global ministers to implement climate policies,” said Mr Lõhmus. Nairobi will be the first first regional host of the OPS.

One Planet Summit (OPS) is held following the realization that resources and solutions for renewable energy already exist in Africa but there is a need to speed their financing and mainstream their development

AIWA! NO!

French President, Emmanuel Macron, and his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, as well as World Bank Group Interim President Kristalina Georgieva and UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, will co-chair the conference, which will be among the highlights will co-chair the conference, which will be among the highlights of the fourth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) running from March 11-15.

Ado Lohmus, a UNEA special envoy, this week confirmed Macron will be in the East African country next week.

“On the 14th, he (Macron) will open the OPS, which will also be meeting here in Kenya alongside UNEA,” Lohmus said in Nairobi this week.

More than 2000 delegates from around the world have registered to attend UNEA-4 and are to be a key part of OPS proceedings.

OPS is one in a series of some climate events this year leading up to the UN 2019 Climate Summit and to the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In December 2018, the World Bank Group announced a major new set of climate targets for 2021-2025, doubling its current 5-year investments to around $200 billion in support for countries to take ambitious climate action.

Africa, from the shores of Lake Chad to the Congo Basin, is being hardest hit by the effects of climate change but it can also be at the forefront of solutions

The new plan significantly boosts support for adaptation and resilience, recognizing mounting climate change impacts on lives and livelihoods, especially in the world’s poorest countries. The plan also represents significantly ramped up ambition from the World Bank Group, sending an important signal to the wider global community to do the same.

Ahead of the OPS, Kenya government officials assured preparations for the OPS were progressing well, with the country having previously held international events of this nature.

Last year, Kenya co-hosted the first-ever global conference on the sustainable blue economy, alongside Canada.

OPS is held following the realization that resources and solutions for renewable energy already exist in Africa but there is a need to speed their financing and mainstream their development.

Judy Wakhungu, Kenya’s Ambassador to France, and French State Minister for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, Brune Poirson, recently held meetings to finalise plans for the OPS and UNEA-4.

Macron has previously spoken of his government’s goal to be a strategic partner to Africa in the field of climate change adaptation.

France is the largest financial contributor to the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), alongside Germany and followed by the Council of the European Union.

At the Africa-France Summit held in Mali in 2017, the French president announced that financing for renewable energy in Africa would be increased from €2 billion to €3 billion, implemented by the Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency) over the 2016-2020 period.

“Africa, from the shores of Lake Chad to the Congo Basin, is being hardest hit by the effects of climate change but it can also be at the forefront of solutions. It can succeed where Europe has not always been able to,” Macron prominently said during a state visit to Burkina Faso in late 2017.

This week, the World Bank, a partner for the OPS, stated cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nairobi, could inform global action on climate change.

Nairobi already has a strong private sector presence as the eighth most attractive city in Africa for foreign direct investment, according to the global institution.

“As such, it can share important lessons learned with other cities in the region and around the world. The One Planet Summit provides the perfect space to do just that by actively inviting new partners to collaborate and launch new initiatives,” the World Bank stated.