29-year-old Senior Captain Yared Tessema Getachew, the main pilot of the ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines flight has been mourned as a Kind, caring and hardworking young man. His family on Thursday congregated for prayer in Ethiopia with his body, yet to be retrieved.

‘‘I am coming to Nairobi. I have forgotten my phone, but we will talk once I get there,” these were the last words, Mr Yared Getachew, the pilot of the ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 uttered to his mother as he prepared to steer the aircraft for the less than two-hour flight to Nairobi.

It was a trip he had done many times before, and even for his family, this was nothing to worry about given that he had flown for more than 8,000 hours as he charted a path in aviation.

His confidence that fateful morning was confirmed by his mother, Dr Rayan Shapi, whom he last spoke to before starting the journey that ended tragically by claiming all 157 people on board.

The government has assured family and relatives of victims of the air crash, that they will be given transport to Ethiopia to help identify bodies of their loved ones.