“Ethiopian Airlines staff will be sent to the accident scene and will do everything possible to assist the emergency services,” the statement added. The airline flies to many destinations in Africa, making it a popular carrier in a continent where many airlines fly only from their home country to destinations outside of Africa.It has a good reputation for safety, although in 2010 one of the company’s airplanes crashed in the Mediterranean Sea shortly after leaving Beirut. The incident killed 90 people on board.

The airline’s highest fatalities to date came in a November 1996 crash during a hijacking on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. One of the airplane’s engines stopped when the fuel ran out and although pilots attempted an emergency water landing, they hit a coral reef in the Indian Ocean and 123 of the 175 people on board were killed.(Script Courtesy to BBC News)