On 10 March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed near Bishoftu shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. It was the second fatal MAX crash in five months after Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia.
Investigators and regulators focused on the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), crew procedures, and certification failures. Ethiopia grounded the type; many other countries followed before the U.S. FAA did. The Aviation Herald and accident dossiers remain primary technical references for the sequence after departure.
Beyond aviation engineering, Flight 302 is a lasting Horn story: a flag-carrier disaster, multinational victims, and a rare moment when African and Asian regulators led a global safety confrontation with a U.S. manufacturer and its oversight system.
Sources: The Aviation Herald, Ethiopian Aircraft Accident Investigation report portal, BBC
