HAUNTING footage has emerged of the final moments of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302, which crashed in Addis Ababa on March 10, killing all 157 people on board.
A video clip of 28-year-old Russian Alexander Polyakov – as well as the Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet, which would carry him to his doom – has gone viral on social media, and rattled netizens.
The brief, 12-second footage was captured by Polyakov’s wife, Ekaterina Polyakova, also 28, as their airside transfer bus conveyed them towards their ill-fated airplane.
The video begins with the camera panning across the aircraft as it sits waiting for passengers on the tarmac of the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.
The camera then glides towards the interior of the bus, whence the video is being shot, to show Alexander seated in a corner of the vehicle. Many commenters on social media as well news portals have remarked on how uncomfortable and anxious he appears – despite being a seasoned traveller – as he waits to board the flight.
The video ends with Alexander gazing nervously out the window.
According to the UK’s The Mirror, the duo was in Addis Ababa on a 1.5-hour layover for a flight to Nairobi, Kenya, where they were planning on holidaying.
The UK’s The Sun reported that Alexander and Ekaterina, who were from Moscow, had flown to the Ethiopian capital from Kuala Lumpur after a vacation here, and in Singapore. Both portals featured an Instagram video and photos of the couple’s trip to Malaysia’s capital and the Lion City.
According to reports, Alexander and Ekaterina worked at Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, and had loved travelling to exotic locations. Prior to venturing into the finance industry, Ekaterina had been a successful model; while Alexander was a marine. The couple had wed while at university.
The duo was among three Russians killed when flight ET302 crashed just six minutes after take-off.