The Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement on Friday that it strongly refuted Washington Post’s allegations that its pilots had complained to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about “flawed training programs” and poor safety procedures four years ahead of the Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft deadly crash.
“Ethiopian Airlines strongly refutes all the baseless and factually incorrect allegations written in the @washingtonpost dated March 21, 2019,” the airline wrote on Twitter on Friday.
The Ethiopian Airlines slammed the allegations as “false defamation… collected from unknown and unreliable sources.” The airline stressed that it was complying with the “highest global standards of quality and safety performances” and had the modern fleet, infrastructure and operating systems. The airline added that it had invested over $50 million in its infrastructure over the past five years. It also said that it was “waiting patiently” for the results of the investigation on 737 MAX design and certification, which was launched globally after the March tragedy.
“We hereby demand the Washington Post remove the article, apologize and correct the facts,” the Ethiopian Airlines added.
The Washington Post reported that two pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines had filed these complaints in 2015, before the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was even in use.