Preliminary Report: Pilots of doomed Ethiopia Airline MAX 737 plane followed Boeing rules

Ethiopia Airline MAX 8 crash site

The crew of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed last month, killing all 157 people aboard, performed all the procedures recommended by the manufacturer Boeing but could not control the jet, according to the preliminary report of the aircraft's data.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 jet experienced “nose dive conditions,” according to the investigation announced by Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges.

"The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but were not able to control the aircraft," Dagmawit said at the news conference in the capital Addis Ababa.

The report, not all of which was publicly released, recommends that the flight control system should be reviewed by Boeing and that aviation authorities should verify the system before the aircraft is released to operation.


Ethiopia on Thursday released a preliminary report into the cause of March deadly Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash, which will be closely scrutinised for similarities to another accident involving the same model of plane.

Aviation authorities around the world grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 left 157 people dead.

The same Boeing model was involved in a Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia in October that killed 189 people.

Data from the black box of the Ethiopian jet show similarities between the two crashes.

In particular, a piece of software used for flight control has come under scrutiny.

A Foreign Affairs Ministry official was cited for the initial information that the report was due to be released Monday.

Nebiat Getachew was widely quoted with Bloomberg adding that embattled plane maker Boeing said it was reviewing the report.

Meanwhile, the U.S. aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, said that it was waiting to receive final package of Boeing’s software enhancement over the coming weeks.

“Time is needed for Boeing to as the result of an ongoing review of the 737 MAX flight control system to ensure that Boeing has identified and appropriately addressed all pertinent issues.

“Upon receipt, the FAA will subject Boeing’s completed submission to a rigorous safety review.

“The FAA not approves the software for installation until the agency is satisfied with the submission,’’ FAA said.

The plane maker recently announced a software upgrade and invited its clients to a meeting over the issue.