Ethiopian Airlines crash: Boeing’s anti-stall feature on 737 Max was activated, report says
Boeing says a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the centre of safety concerns
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Your support makes all the difference.A preliminary investigation to determine the cause of the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash has concluded that an anti-stall system of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was activated before the plane hit the ground, The Wall Street Journal reports.
All 157 passengers and crew were killed when the Ethiopian Flight 302 crashed on 10 March shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa. The disaster occurred five months after the Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia, killing 189 people.
The preliminary conclusion, based on information from the aircraft’s data and voice recorders, shows that the malfunctioning automated system may be responsible for the deadly Ethiopian Flight crash, The Wall Street Journal reported. It also is a strong link to the fatal crash of the Lion Air Max jet, which had similar problems in October.
Both crashes are being investigated by teams of international experts led by the countries where the flights originated.
Boeing announced that a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the centre of safety concerns in a presentation to aviation experts from around the world on Wednesday.
A spokesperson told CNN: “I would be very careful about indicting any part of that process until we know more from the specifics of these accidents.”
Aviation authorities around the world grounded the 737 Max planes earlier this month, citing similarities between the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air disasters.
China has since confirmed it will buy 300 jets from competitor Airbus.
On Thursday, the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, filed a lawsuit against Boeing Co in US federal court. Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.
The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues under scrutiny as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two crashes.
Many pilots learned the new features of the Boeing Max on an iPad and many were not originally informed of the existence of the automated system, which can push the plane’s nose down if it is approaching a stall.
Additional reporting by agencies
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