Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777F ablaze in China

July 22, 2020: An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777F has caught fire at Shanghai Pudong airport, China while cargo was being loaded, local media reported.

According to details, the fire seems to have originated from the main cargo deck and has burned through the upper fuselage. The plane was scheduled to fly to Sao Paulo-Santiago via Addis Ababa and was in the process of being loaded when the fire erupted.

ET-ARH is a five-year-old Boeing 777F, which has been with Ethiopian since it was built. The aircraft is already listed on Aviation Safety Network as being written off, despite firefighters still working to tackle the blaze.

A statement issued by the Ethiopian Airlines said the plane caught fire while landing at the airport. China’s Civil Aviation Administration and the Ethiopian airline company have begun probing the incident. The statement said all crew members had exited from the plane safely, while the cause of the fire was still unknown.

Fire was eventually contained by the emergency services. Flights due to land in Shanghai Pudong International Airport were diverted to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). No injuries were reported. An investigation was opened to determine the cause of the incident.

Over the past four months, Ethiopian cargo has been flying to 70 destinations across the world including Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has predicted that cargo operations will contribute 26% of airline industry revenue in 2020, up from 12% in 2019.

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