The Latest: Iran bans Boeing Max 8 model from airspace
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - The Latest on Ethiopian Airlines crash (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
Iran says it has banned from its airspace Boeing 737 Max 8 planes alongside other nations.
The transportation ministry announced the ban on Friday. The decision comes after two fatal crashes involving the model in the past six months.
An Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed Sunday and killed all 157 people aboard. A previous crash involving the Boeing model killed 189 people in Indonesia last year.
Iran has no Boeing 737 Max 8 planes due to decades-long U.S. sanctions on the country.
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11:05 a.m.
Ethiopian Airlines says the investigation in France has begun into the flight data and voice recorders of the plane that crashed on Sunday, killing all 157 on board.
The airline says in a Twitter post that an Ethiopian delegation led by the chief investigator of its accident investigation bureau has arrived at the facilities of the French air accident investigation authority.
The French agency has said it was unclear whether the data could be retrieved. It shared a photo of the data recorder, which appeared intact though the edge appeared somewhat mangled.
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10:30 a.m.
The pilot of the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed requested permission "in a panicky voice" to return to the airport shortly after takeoff, The New York Times reports.
Friday's report cites "a person who reviewed air traffic communications" from Sunday's flight saying controllers noticed the plane was moving up and down by hundreds of feet, with its speed appearing unusually fast.
An airline spokesman has said the pilot was given permission to return. But the plane crashed minutes later outside Addis Ababa, killing all 157 on board.
French authorities now have the plane's flight data and voice recorders for analysis.
In Ethiopia, officials have started taking DNA samples from victims' family members to assist in identifying remains.
Countries including the United States have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8.