Ethiopian Airlines debunks media reports on pilot of crashed aircraft

Ethiopian Airlines has debunked reports by the foreign media that the pilot of the ill fated ET 302 flight, Yared Getachew was not well trained.

The New York Times quoting anonymous sources claimed that the captain of the doomed Flight 302 never trained on the simulator installed by the airline to teach pilots, although it reported that the airlines surpassed many carriers by becoming one of the first to install a simulator to teach pilots how to fly the new Boeing 737 Max 8.

The Washington Post similarly reported that the pilot was not well trained.

Reuters quoting a colleague of the 29 year old pilot said he was due for a refresher training at the end of March on the stimulator, two months after Ethiopian Airlines had received one of the first such simulators being distributed.

But the Ethiopian Airlines said the reports were baseless and factually incorrect.

In one of the tweets, the airline set the record straight:

“Ethiopian Airlines pilots completed the Boeing recommended and FAA approved differences training from the B-737 NG aircraft to the B-737 MAX aircraft before the phase in of the B-737-8 MAX fleet to the Ethiopian operation and before they start flying the B-737-8 MAX”.