Antonis Mavropoulos was late for the flight that crashed six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people on board
A passenger who was due to fly on the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after take-off has written about his experiences having missed the flight by two minutes.
Flight ET302 crashed just 30 miles southeast of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, near the town of Bishoftu. Seven British people were among the 157 on board, all of whom died in the crash. Black boxes have now been recovered from the site.
However Greek national Antonis Mavropoulos has revealed that he had a ticket for the journey to Nairobi, Kenya, and yet wasn’t allowed to board having arrived late.
“I missed it by two minutes,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “When I arrived, boarding was closed and I watched the last passengers go in. I shouted for them to put me on the plane but they wouldn’t allow it.
“Airport staff, being kind, put me on the next flight that would leave at 11:20. They apologised for the inconvenience and transferred me to a nice lounge to wait in. At 10:50, as we joined the next flight, two security officers informed me that for security reasons, they could not allow me to board.
“In my intense protests they left no room for discussion and led me to their superior at the airport police department. He calmly told me not to protest and to say thank you to god, because I am the only passenger who did not get on flight ET302, which was now missing.
“This was why they couldn’t let me go, until they determined who I was. At first I thought he was lying, but his manner left me with no doubt.”
As the situation dawned on Mavropoulos, who is president of the non-profit organisation International Solid Waste Association, he realised he needed to contact loved ones to confirm his whereabouts.
“They made me sit in a living room and they told me to wait there until they said so,” he continued. “I was looking on the internet for news on the flight. Friends from Nairobi told me that, 30 minutes after the expected arrival time, it had not landed and there was no further information.
“I got a text from a close friend and I learned that the flight crashed almost as it took off, and that the Greek media was reporting on it. Then I realised that I must immediately contact my family and tell them that I was not on it and that, because of two small random coincidences, I had missed the flight.
“The moment that thought occurred to me, I collapsed. Only then had I realised exactly how lucky I was.”
