Image: AFP

Virgin Australia has ordered 30 aeroplanes, which are the same model as the plane that crashed in Ethiopia, killing 157 people.

The aircraft went down six minutes after taking off from the capital Addis Ababa, with no survivors.

Accident Bulletin no. 2
Issued on march 10, 2019 at 01:46 PM pic.twitter.com/KFKX6h2mxJ

— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 10, 2019

There were 149 passengers and eight crew members onboard the Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were among the passengers from 35 countries.

The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express it’s deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.

— Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) March 10, 2019

The cause of the disaster is yet to be determined but the pilot had reported difficulties and had asked to return to the airport.

The Boeing 737-8 MAX is the same model of aircraft as the Lion Air plane which crashed off the of coast Indonesia last year.

It was only delivered to Ethiopian Airlines in November and had reportedly undergone a rigorous maintenance check in February.

Retired Emirates A380 Pilot James Nixon tells Ross Greenwood the Addis Ababa airport is “one of the trickiest airports in the world to fly in and out of.”

“These Ethiopian pilots are really good.

“This is not a case of a Mickey Mouse airline with suspect pilots in command.

“So for these guys to get caught out has really shocked and stunned the piloting community.”

He says the MAX 8 planes on order for Virgin will “certainly be fixed long before anyone from Virgin gets to fly one.”

Click PLAY below to listen to the full interview