Jet recorders examined as families grieve crash victims
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — As investigators in Paris began examining the cockpit voice recorder of the crashed Ethiopian Airlines jet Saturday, grieving family members were given sacks of dirt to bury in place of the remains of their loved ones.
The French air accident investigation agency BEA tweeted Saturday that technical work on the recorder began. The BEA also said work resumed on the flight’s data recorders.
The recorders, also known as black boxes, were sent to France because the BEA has extensive expertise in analyzing such devices. Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the plane’s manufacturer Boeing are among those involved in the investigation.
In Ethiopia, officials have begun delivering bags of earth to family members of the 157 victims instead of the remains of their loved ones because the identification process is going to take such a long time.
Family members are being given a 1-kilogram sack of earth taken from the crash site, said two family members. An Ethiopian government official confirmed the move. All insisted upon anonymity.
“The soil came as it became impossible to identify bodies and hand over remains to family members,” one family member said. “We will not rest until we are given the real body or body parts of our loved ones.”
Forensic DNA work has begun on identifying the remains but it may take six months to identify the victims’ remains. The victims of the crash came from 35 countries.
A mass memorial service for the dead is planned in Addis Ababa on Sunday, one week after the crash. Muslim families already have held prayers for the dead and are anxious to have something to bury.
The Ethiopian disaster and a crash last year in Indonesia both involved Boeing 737 Max 8 planes. The United States and...