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Yared Getachew
Ethiopian Airlines Captain
Pilot of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302; Boeing 737 MAX Victim
Overview
Captain Yared Getachew was the pilot of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302; which crashed on March 10; 2019; six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa; killing all 157 people on board. He was 29 years old at the time of the crash and one of the youngest captains at Ethiopian Airlines; having accumulated over 8;100 flight hours. The crash was caused by Boeing's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS); a flight control system that repeatedly pushed the nose of the aircraft down based on data from a single faulty angle-of-attack (AOA) sensor. Getachew and First Officer Ahmed Nur Mohammod Nur (25 years old; 361 hours on the 737 MAX) followed Boeing's emergency procedures exactly; disabling the electric trim system as instructed. However; at the speed the aircraft was traveling; the manual trim wheel required approximately 50 pounds of force to turn; making it physically impossible to manually correct the aircraft's nose-down attitude. This was a critical design flaw Boeing never disclosed to pilots or airlines. The pilots fought the aircraft for six agonizing minutes; pulling back on the control column with over 100 pounds of force while MCAS repeatedly activated; driving the plane into a 40-degree nose-down dive at over 500 mph. The aircraft hit the ground at an estimated 575 mph; creating an impact crater 10 meters deep. The same MCAS system had caused the Lion Air Flight 610 crash just five months earlier; killing 189 people. Boeing knew about the MCAS flaw; knew the single-sensor design was dangerous; and had opted not to require a second AOA sensor or disagree light as standard equipment because it would have cost approximately $13;000 per aircraft and might have triggered additional pilot training requirements that would delay deliveries. Internal Boeing communications revealed employees calling the MAX a plane "designed by clowns; who in turn are supervised by monkeys."
Key Affiliations
Controversies & Concerns
Followed Boeing's emergency procedures exactly but the procedures were inadequate; the manual trim wheel was physically impossible to operate at the aircraft's speed
Boeing never disclosed MCAS to pilots in the flight manual; trained pilots on iPads for one hour; and charged extra for the AOA disagree indicator that could have warned of the faulty sensor
The FAA delegated safety certification of MCAS to Boeing itself through the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program; allowing Boeing to self-certify the system that killed 346 people
Boeing's internal "designed by clowns supervised by monkeys" emails showed company culture prioritized production speed over safety
Ethiopian Airlines was initially blamed by some Western media despite the airline having an excellent safety record; revealing racial bias in crash coverage
FAA was the last aviation authority in the world to ground the 737 MAX; doing so only after 57 other countries had already acted; raising questions about regulatory capture
Related Investigations (1)
Known Associates & Connections
Dennis Muilenburg
Boeing CEO who refused to ground MAX after Lion Air crash
Sources & Documentation
3 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports
Personal Information
- Born
- 1989
- Birthplace
- Ethiopia
Education
- •Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy
Key Timeline
1989
Born in Ethiopia
2010
Joined Ethiopian Airlines; accumulated over 8;100 flight hours by age 29
October 29, 2018
Lion Air Flight 610 crashes due to same MCAS flaw; killing 189 people; Boeing issues bulletin but does not ground fleet
March 10, 2019
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 departs Addis Ababa Bole International Airport at 8:38 AM
March 10, 2019
AOA sensor fails immediately after takeoff; MCAS activates repeatedly pushing nose down
March 10, 2019
Pilots follow Boeing procedures; disable electric trim; but manual trim wheel physically impossible to turn at 340+ knots
March 10, 2019
Flight 302 crashes at 8:44 AM near Bishoftu (Debre Zeit); 6 minutes after takeoff; all 157 killed
March 10-13, 2019
57 countries ground 737 MAX; FAA is last to act on March 13
January 2021
Boeing agrees to $2.5 billion deferred prosecution agreement; DOJ declines criminal prosecution of executives