Ethiopian Airlines: 'No survivors' on crashed Boeing 737

[Abdullah719]

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on Sunday morning en route from Addis to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board.

"We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in accident today," the airline said in a statement.

"It is believed that there were 149 passengers and eight crew on board the flight but we are currently confirming the details of the passenger manifest for the flight."

The airline said "search and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible casualties".

The plane took off at 8:38am (0638 GMT) from Bole International Airport and "lost contact" six minutes later.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office tweeted it "would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on [a] regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning".

Ethiopian Airlines said it would send staff to the accident scene to "do everything possible to assist the emergency services". It would also set up a passenger information centre and a dedicated telephone number for family and friends of people who may have been on the flight.

The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

The last major accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was a Boeing 737-800 that exploded after taking off from Lebanon in 2010, killing 83 passengers and seven crew.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1468793/e...nairobi-with-157-aboard-crashes-after-takeoff

 

[Hitman]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express it’s deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.</p>— Office of the Prime Minister - Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) <a href="https://twitter.com/PMEthiopia/status/1104650609951719427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2019</a></blockquote>
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[Hitman]

This is extremely tragic.

RIP to the unfortunate victims.

 

[Pak Warrior]

So sad, condolences to the families of the victims

 

[Hitman]

Life is not fair. We really need to get used to that. Life is really, really not fair. 157 innocent people have lost their lives in this tragic incident.

I've seen so many deaths in my extended family and among friends. And I have always maintained that I'd prefer to die myself than suffer the loss of one of my family members.

 

[shaz619]

RIP to the victims, it is glaring that ethiopian airlines is at the centre of another tragedy; I suspect malpractice with regards to abiding by CMP's and AMM's.

 

[shaz619]

Life is not fair. We really need to get used to that. Life is really, really not fair. 157 innocent people have lost their lives in this tragic incident.

I've seen so many deaths in my extended family and among friends. And I have always maintained that I'd prefer to die myself than suffer the loss of one of my family members.

You souldn't say that about dieing but yes losing a loved one is the most excrutiating pain one can ever go through in life

 

[Bilal_103]

Condolences to out to the families of everyone affected by this tragedy. Isn't this one of the newer planes?

 

[Pakistanian]

Condolences to out to the families of everyone affected by this tragedy. Isn't this one of the newer planes?

this is the same aircraft model involved in the lion air crash, apparently there were technical issues.

 

[Hitman]

Condolences to out to the families of everyone affected by this tragedy. Isn't this one of the newer planes?

Just 4 months old.

 

[Bilal_103]

this is the same aircraft model involved in the lion air crash, apparently there were technical issues.

Wow they should look into this right away hopefully they can find out what the issues are.

 

[Bilal_103]

Just 4 months old.

That's what I thought too. I mean with all the advanced technology in these planes something like this shouldn't be happening. I hope they can figure out what is going on.

 

[Pakistanian]

That's what I thought too. I mean with all the advanced technology in these planes something like this shouldn't be happening. I hope they can figure out what is going on.

"The failure is literally the same as back then. The plane took nosedive because it thought it's in 8000ft instead of 1000ft and it had the same problems after take off. Blame is on automatic stabilizers that constantly tried to correct the altitude.

You would think that BA would have provided better documentation after the last crash on how to properly disengage it and any pilot who was flying a 737M8 surely studied studied what was given. If a senior pilot cannot figure out how to disengage or maybe it's more complicated than it should be, then it's manufacturer design flaw. Last time, pilots also blamed BA for not making this feature transparent in the manual, so many didn't even know about it."

 

[Syed1]

Second crash for this new variant of 737 in six months. First Indonesian airlines and now Ethiopian. The 737-Max seems like a death trap. I foresee serious questions being asked of Boeing.


Inna lillahi wa Inna illahi rajioon

 

[The Viper]

Inna lillahi wa Inna illahi rajioon. Very sad.

 

[Technics 1210]

Rest in peace. Tragic news. Condolences to all those effected.

 

[giri26]

Ethiopian Airlines: Flight recorders recovered from crash site

Investigators have found the flight data recorders from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on Sunday.

The devices recovered at the crash site were the Boeing 737 Max 8's cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data recorder.

The plane was en route from Addis Ababa to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, when it crashed six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people on board.

Several airlines have grounded the Boeing model following the disaster.

The months-old aircraft came down near the town of Bishoftu, 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital at 08:44 local time (05:44 GMT).

There were people of more than 30 nationalities on the flight, including Kenyans, Ethiopians, Canadians, and Britons.

Do we know how it happened?
The cause of the disaster is not yet clear. But the pilot had reported difficulties and asked to return to Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines said.

"At this stage, we can't rule out anything," CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said. "We can't also attribute the cause to anything because we'll have to comply with the international regulation to wait for the investigation."

Visibility was said to be good but air traffic monitor Flightradar24 reported that the plane's "vertical speed was unstable after take-off".

The pilot was named as Senior Capt Yared Getachew who Ethiopian Airlines said had a "commendable performance" with more than 8,000 hours in the air.

Several witnesses who worked in the farmland below the plane's flight path told the Reuters news agency they heard loud rattling noises coming from the aircraft and saw billows of smoke and debris in its wake as it made a low turn over the fields.

"When it was hovering, fire was following its tail, then it tried to lift its nose," said one witness, Gadisa Benti. "When it passed over our house, the nose pointed down and the tail raised up. It went straight to the ground with its nose, it then exploded."

What do we know about the plane?
The 737 Max 8 aircraft has only been in commercial use since 2017.

The plane that crashed was among six of 30 that Ethiopian Airlines had ordered as part of its expansion. It underwent a "rigorous first check maintenance" on 4 February, the airline said.

Airlines ground 737 Max 8 jets
Who's still flying the Max 8
Boeing said it was "deeply saddened" by the crash and was sending a team to provide technical assistance.

It was the second crash in five months involving a 737 Max 8, and comparisons are being drawn with a Lion Air accident in Indonesia last October that killed 189 people.

Following the Lion Air crash, investigators said the pilots had appeared to struggle with an automated system designed to keep the plane from stalling, a new feature of the jet.

The anti-stall system repeatedly forced the plane's nose down, despite efforts by pilots to correct this, preliminary findings suggested. The Lion Air plane was also new and the accident happened soon after take-off.

"It's highly suspicious," Mary Schiavo, former Inspector General of the US Transportation Department, told CNN. "Here we have a brand-new aircraft that's gone down twice in a year. That rings alarm bells in the aviation industry, because that just doesn't happen."

After last October's crash, Boeing sent an emergency notice to airlines warning them of a problem with the anti-stall system.

Boeing is expected to release a software patch to the system to deal with the issue, Reuters reports.

It is not yet clear whether the anti-stall system was the cause of Sunday's crash. Aviation experts say other technical issues or human error cannot be discounted.

Who were the victims?
There were 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians and nine Britons (two of whom were dual nationals travelling on non-British passports) on the flight.

There were also eight Italians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Germans, four Indians and four people from Slovakia.

At least 21 passengers were affiliated with the UN and were travelling to a session of its Environment Assembly in Nairobi.

"It is one of the biggest catastrophes we have had in years," Michael Moller, director-general of the UN Office in Geneva, told the session on Monday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his condolences for the dead. "Our colleagues were women and men, junior professionals and seasoned officials, hailing from all corners of the globe and with a wide array of expertise," he said.

"They all had one thing in common: a spirit to serve the people of the world and to make it a better place for us all."

David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programme, said seven members of the agency's staff had died in the crash, including Irish and Italian nationals.

What happens next?
The investigation will be led by Ethiopian authorities in co-ordination with teams of experts from Boeing and the US National Transportation Safety Board.

Ethiopian Airlines said it had grounded all of its 737 Max 8s "until further notice" as "an extra safety precaution". The airline's first flight to Kenya since the crash touched down at 10:25 local time on Monday, and a different model of plane was used.

Meanwhile:

• China's aviation regulator has also ordered local airlines to halt the flights of 737 Max 8s. More than 90 are in use by Chinese carriers including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines
• Indonesia grounded all 737 Max 8s, and Cayman Airways also grounded its two Boeings of the same type
• A spokeswoman for FlyDubai, which operates a number of 737 Max 8s, told Reuters that the company continued to have confidence in the aircraft
• Several North American airlines have said they are monitoring the investigation. Southwest Airlines flies 31 737 Max 8s, while American Airlines and Air Canada each have 24 in their fleet
• Shares in Boeing fell by 12.9% in the wake of the crash.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47521744

 

[mmkextreme_1]

Inna lillahi wa Inna illahi rajioon

Extremely sad

2nd crash within 6 months for the 737 Max..now more and more airlines are grounding this specific plane.

 

[cricketworm]

This is such sad news. Boeing Max aeroplanes are getting cancellations throughout the world. It has even affected the stock market.

 

[Madplayer]

Second crash for this new variant of 737 in six months. First Indonesian airlines and now Ethiopian. The 737-Max seems like a death trap. I foresee serious questions being asked of Boeing.


Inna lillahi wa Inna illahi rajioon

These planes should be grounded everywhere with immediate effect. Already grounded in UK, Italy and China. Saw a poll on twitter where 80% of around 10k voters voted that they won't fly in this aircraft.

 

[Suleiman]

RIP to the victims, it is glaring that ethiopian airlines is at the centre of another tragedy; I suspect malpractice with regards to abiding by CMP's and AMM's.

Boeing Max is also the problem, not too long ago it was involved in another crash in Indonesia killing 180+. China have pulled it from service after this incident but the cheap and heartless US airlines still continue to use it. They are one of the worst in the world.

 

[shaz619]

Boeing Max is also the problem, not too long ago it was involved in another crash in Indonesia killing 180+. China have pulled it from service after this incident but the cheap and heartless US airlines still continue to use it. They are one of the worst in the world.

I wouldn't personally comment on what the problem is, this is a monumental event as far as an incident is concerned in civil aerospace operation which has resulted in the loss of life. We tend to have in-depth investigations which can run from 6-18 months when a single component failure is causing fleet issues so something like this will be investigated thoroughly from an aircraft and engine level it could take a while before the root cause is established once the evidence/facts have been evaluated.

 

[giri26]

Ethiopian Airlines CEO tells CNN: Pilot had 'flight control problems'

New York (CNN Business)The pilot of the downed Ethiopian Airlines flight had "flight control problems" shortly before the fatal crash, according to the company's chief executive.

A recorded conversation with air traffic control detailed the final moments of the flight, CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told CNN's Richard Quest on Tuesday.

"He was having difficulties with the flight control of the airplane, so he asked to return back to base," GebreMariam said. He added that the pilot was granted permission to return to ground. That happened at the same time the flight disappeared from radar.

All 157 people aboard the Boeing (BA) 737 MAX 8 died when it crashed soon after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday. It was the second time in less than six months that a 737 MAX 8 was involved in a fatal incident, after a Lion Air flight from Indonesia went down in October.

GebreMariam said the Ethiopian Airlines pilots had received additional training on the flight procedures involving the 737 MAX 8 after the Lion Air crash.

"We believe the similarities are substantial" between the two crashes, GebreMariam said, adding that both incidents featured new models of the same airplane, and both flights lasted only minutes before the planes went down.

Both crashes are still under investigation, and there is no evidence that they are linked in causality.

GebreMariam declined to say whether he thought all Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft should be grounded across the globe, though he noted that Ethiopian Airlines has grounded its fleet of MAX 8s. He also pointed out that several countries, including China, Australia and the United Kingdom, are not allowing MAX 8s to fly either.

"We don't yet know the exact cause of the accident, and speculation is not helpful in either way," GebreMariam said, "but I think there are questions without answers on the airplane."

The black boxes from the Ethiopian Airlines plane have been recovered, which will enable investigators to learn more about the cause of the crash.

GebreMariam said Ethiopia's Ministry of Transport will work with the United States, where Boeing is based, to find a place to examine that data. Ethiopia does not nave the necessary equipment to perform those tasks on its own, he added.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/12/business/ethiopian-airlines-ceo-richard-quest/index.html

 

[MenInG]

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has said it will not suspend Boeing 737 Max aircraft despite mounting pressure from senators and workers' unions.

The FAA said a review showed "no systemic performance issues" and there is no basis for grounding the aircraft.

An Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed on Sunday killing all 157 people on board, in the second fatal accident involving the 737 Max 8 model in five months.

A wave of countries and blocs have banned the plane from their airspace.

They include the UK, China, the European Union and Australia.

Ted Cruz, a Republican senator who chairs a subcommittee on aviation and space, said: "I believe it would be prudent for the US likewise to temporarily ground 737 Max aircraft until the FAA confirms the safety of these aircraft and their passengers."

Democratic senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal have written to the FAA - which they referred to as "our aviation safety cop on the beat" - asking that the Boeing 737 Max should be grounded "until the agency can conclusively determine that the aircraft can be operated safely".

Democrat presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren said that the FAA should follow other nations' lead "immediately" and "get these planes out of the sky".

And Republican senator Mitt Romney said: "Out of an abundance of caution for the flying public, the FAA should ground the 737 Max 8 until we investigate the causes of recent crashes and ensure the plane's airworthiness."

But the FAA said that other civil aviation authorities had not "provided data to us that would warrant action".

Boeing has confirmed that for the past few months it has been developing a "flight control software enhancement" for the aircraft, but says it is confident they are safe to fly.

'Caution'
Airline workers also want the FAA to ground the Boeing 737 Max.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union said it is calling on the FAA "to temporarily ground the 737 MAX fleet in the US out of an abundance of caution".

Its president Sara Nelson, said: "The US has the safest aviation system in the world, but Americans are looking for leadership in this time of uncertainty.

"The FAA must act decisively to restore the public faith in the system.

The Allied Pilots Association told its members: "It is important for you to know that if you feel it is unsafe to work the 737 Max, you will not be forced to fly it."

Southwest Airlines and American Airlines - both major operators of the Boeing 737 Max - are continuing to use the planes.

Southwest Airlines is offering passengers scheduled to fly on one of the Boeing planes the chance to change their bookings.

American Airlines said its "standard policies for changes still apply".

What is a Boeing 737 Max aircraft?
The Boeing 737 Max fleet of aircraft are the latest in the company's successful 737 line. The group includes the Max 7, 8, 9 and 10 models.

By the end of January, Boeing had delivered 350 of the Max 8 model out of 5,011 orders. A small number of Max 9s are also operating.

The Max 7 and 10 models, not yet delivered, are due for roll-out in the next few years.

The Max 8 that crashed on Sunday was one of 30 ordered as part of Ethiopian Airlines' expansion. It underwent a "rigorous first check maintenance" on 4 February, the airline said.

Following last October's Lion Air crash in Indonesia, investigators said the pilots had appeared to struggle with an automated system designed to keep the plane from stalling, a new feature of the jet.

It is not yet clear whether the anti-stall system was the cause of Sunday's crash. Aviation experts say other technical issues or human error cannot be discounted.

Eyewitnesses say they saw a trail of smoke, sparks and debris as the plane nosedived.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47548083

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JUST IN: Black box from Ethiopia crash to be sent overseas for analysis - Ethiopian Airlines spokesman <a href="https://t.co/s6iWfSwMo9">pic.twitter.com/s6iWfSwMo9</a></p>— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1105748727195672576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Rana]

Very sad news.

Inna Lillahi wa Inna ilaihi rajeoon

 

[MenInG]

US President Donald Trump has said the US Federal Aviation Administration will ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 - the aircraft in Sunday's crash in Ethiopia.

The FAA had previously held out while many countries banned the Max 8 from flying over their airspace.

All 157 people on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight were killed when it crashed just minutes after take-off.

It was the second fatal Max 8 disaster in six months, after one crashed over Indonesia in October, killing 189.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47562727

 

[PetroDollars]

looks like they forgot to train the pilots on how to use a new system.

 

[MenInG]

Ethiopian Airlines has offered the relatives of 157 victims of last Sunday's Boeing 737 Max plane crash bags of scorched earth to bury in place of their loved ones, reports say.

Earth from the crash site is being made available for a planned service in Addis Ababa on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Families have been told it could take up to six months to identify remains.

Countries across the world grounded the 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft after flight 302 crashed on 10 March.

Ethiopia's transport minister said on Saturday it may take "considerable time" for investigators to find the cause of the crash involving the new aeroplane.

"An investigation of such magnitude requires a careful analysis and considerable time to come up with something concrete," Dagmawit Moges told a press conference.

Relatives of the passengers killed in the incident are being encouraged to provide DNA samples either in Addis Ababa or at any overseas offices of Ethiopian Airlines.

Death certificates are expected to be issued in two weeks.

Families mourning the victims are being offered a 1kg (2.2lbs) bag of charred soil to bury as part of Sunday's service in the Ethiopian capital, AP news agency reports.

"The soil came as it became impossible to identify bodies and hand over remains to family members," one family member reportedly said, adding: "We will not rest until we are given the real body or body parts of our loved ones."

Passengers from more than 30 countries were on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.

The Ethiopian investigation into the crash is being assisted by teams from around the world, including the US and France.

The aircraft's flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), or black boxes as they are often called, have been recovered and investigators are hoping they will shed light on the tragedy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47599654

 

[MenInG]

Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after the plane was involved in two fatal crashes.

The move is thought to be the first formal cancellation of an order for the aircraft.

A Garuda spokesperson said passengers had "lost trust" in the plane.

It comes as investigators work to establish the cause of a recent crash involving a 737 Max 8, which killed 157 people.

It was the second fatal disaster involving the jet in five months. A Lion Air flight crashed in October, killing 189 people.

"We have sent a letter to Boeing requesting that the order be cancelled," Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan told AFP.

"The reason is that Garuda passengers in Indonesia have lost trust and no longer have the confidence" in the plane he said, adding that the airline was awaiting a response from Boeing.

Garuda did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment. A spokesperson for Boeing was "unable to comment on customer discussions".

Garuda had already received one of the 737 Max 8 planes, AFP reported, part of a 50-plane order worth $4.9bn (£3.7bn) at list prices when it was announced in 2014.

Garuda was among Boeing's customers that had indicated they could scrap their orders. for the 737 Max jets but the Indonesian airline appears the first to take action.

While there is no conclusive evidence so far that the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air disasters are linked, French experts analysing the Ethiopian Airlines' flight data black box say early investigations point to "clear similarities".

Experts believe a new automated system in Boeing's aircraft - intended to stop stalling by dipping the nose - may have played a role in both crashes, with pilots unable to override it.

The company said a software update is coming following the crash of the Lion Air flight.

Investigators intend to to issue a preliminary report into the Ethiopian Airlines disaster by mid-April.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47662967

 

[giri26]

Boeing announces fixes for its 737 Max aircraft

Boeing has issued changes to controversial control systems linked to two fatal crashes of its 737 Max planes in the last five months.

But it's still not certain when the planes, that were grounded worldwide this month, will be allowed to fly.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accidents.

As part of the upgrade, Boeing will install as a standard a warning system, which was previously an optional safety feature.

Neither of the planes, operated by Lion Air in Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines, that were involved in the fatal crashes, carried the alert systems, designed to warn pilots when sensors produce contradictory readings.

Boeing said in future airlines would no longer be charged extra for that safety system to be installed.

Upgrade
The plane-maker has also issued an upgrade to the software that has been linked to the crashes.

The Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), designed to keep the plane from stalling, reacts to sensors which detect whether the jet is climbing at too steep an angle.

But an investigation of the Lion Air flight last year suggested the system malfunctioned, and forced the plane's nose down more than 20 times before it crashed into the sea killing all 189 passengers and crew.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says there are similarities between that crash and the Ethiopian accident on 10 March.

Boeing has redesigned the software so that it will disable MCAS if it receives conflicting data from its sensors.

In a briefing to reporters Boeing said that the upgrades were not an admission that the system had caused the crashes.

Oversight
The FAA itself also came under scrutiny on Wednesday.

At a Senate hearing to discuss airline safety, senators questioned the FAA's acting head Daniel Elwell about the regulator's practice that involves employees of a plane manufacturer in the process of inspecting, testing and certifying the company's own aircraft.

The practice was described by one senator, Richard Blumenthal, as leaving "the fox guarding the henhouse".

Mr Elwell denied that it was "self-certification" arguing that the FAA "retains strict oversight authority" of the process. He said that the practice was used "globally" including by the European Aviation Safety Agency.

Mr Elwell added that if the FAA were unable to delegate these tasks to planemakers, it would have to recruit 10,000 more employees, costing the regulator an additional $1.8bn.

The FAA was also criticised for being the last safety regulator to ground the Boeing aircraft following the Ethiopian Airline crash on 10 March.

Calvin Scovel, inspector general of the Department of Transportation, who also appeared before Congress, said: "Other safety regulators around the world decided in their role as safety regulators, they needed to drive risk to zero and they did that by grounding the aircraft."

However, Mr Elwell said the FAA wanted to wait until they received relevant information before they made a decision.

"We may have been the last country to ground the aircraft, but the United States and Canada were the first countries to ground the aircraft with data for cause and purpose," he said.

Mr Elwell said that he was "confident" in the MCAS system and that pilots were trained in how to deal with a situation where a plane drops suddenly.

However, when asked about how he would have handled a plane that dropped 21 times in a matter minutes as the Lion Air flight in Indonesia did before it crashed last October, Mr Elwell, a trained pilot, said: "I'd have to get back to you on the specific."

Timetable
Earlier, announcing the package of cockpit upgrades, Boeing said a final version of the software would be submitted to the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) by the end of the week.

But it added that airlines would have to install the new software, give feedback on its performance, and train pilots before the changes could be certified and the planes passed safe to fly again.

A joint investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board, France's aviation investigative authority BEA and Ethiopia's Transport Ministry is expected to release a preliminary report into the Ethiopian crash this week.

A Boeing official said: "Following the first incident in Indonesia we followed the results of the independent authorities looking at the data, and, as we are always looking to ways to improve, where we find ways to improve, we make those changes to make those improvements."

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47722258

 

[MenInG]

Details have begun to emerge of the final moments of an Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed three weeks ago.

An anti-stalling system on the plane, a Boeing 737 Max, has been blamed for the disaster which killed all 157 people on board.

Soon after take-off - and just 450ft (137m) above the ground - the aircraft's nose began to pitch down.

One pilot, according to the Wall Street Journal, said to the other "pitch up, pitch up!" before their radio died.

The plane crashed only six minutes into its flight.

'Catastrophic failure'
The Wall Street Journal - which says it's spoken to people close to the ongoing investigation - says the information it has "paints a picture of a catastrophic failure that quickly overwhelmed the flight crew".

Leaks this week from the crash investigation in Ethiopia and in the US suggest an automatic anti-stall system was activated at the time of the disaster.

The Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight-control feature was also implicated in a fatal crash involving a Lion Air flight in Indonesia last October.

The Boeing 737 Max went down shortly after take-off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

An investigation of the Lion Air flight suggested the anti-stall system malfunctioned, and forced the plane's nose down more than 20 times before it crashed into the sea.

The Ethiopian authorities have already said there are "clear similarities" between the Lion Air incident and the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The airline and authorities have refused to comment on leaks from the investigation.

Concerns about the Boeing 737 Max have led to a worldwide grounding of the plane.

System update
Boeing has redesigned the software so that it will disable MCAS if it receives conflicting data from its sensors.

As part of the upgrade, Boeing will install an extra warning system on all 737 Max aircraft, which was previously an optional safety feature.

Neither of the two planes that were involved in the fatal crashes carried the alert systems, which are designed to warn pilots when sensors produce contradictory readings.

The aircraft update is designed to ensure the MCAS will no longer repeatedly make corrections when a pilot tries to regain control.

Boeing is also revising pilot training to provide "enhanced understanding of the 737 MAX" flight system and crew procedures.

Earlier this week, Boeing said that the upgrades were not an admission that the system had caused the crashes.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accidents, but a preliminary report from Ethiopian authorities is expected within days.

Boeing has tried to restore its battered reputation, while continuing to insist the 737 Max is safe.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47759966

 

[shaz619]

Details have begun to emerge of the final moments of an Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed three weeks ago.

An anti-stalling system on the plane, a Boeing 737 Max, has been blamed for the disaster which killed all 157 people on board.

Soon after take-off - and just 450ft (137m) above the ground - the aircraft's nose began to pitch down.

One pilot, according to the Wall Street Journal, said to the other "pitch up, pitch up!" before their radio died.

The plane crashed only six minutes into its flight.

'Catastrophic failure'
The Wall Street Journal - which says it's spoken to people close to the ongoing investigation - says the information it has "paints a picture of a catastrophic failure that quickly overwhelmed the flight crew".

Leaks this week from the crash investigation in Ethiopia and in the US suggest an automatic anti-stall system was activated at the time of the disaster.

The Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight-control feature was also implicated in a fatal crash involving a Lion Air flight in Indonesia last October.

The Boeing 737 Max went down shortly after take-off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

An investigation of the Lion Air flight suggested the anti-stall system malfunctioned, and forced the plane's nose down more than 20 times before it crashed into the sea.

The Ethiopian authorities have already said there are "clear similarities" between the Lion Air incident and the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The airline and authorities have refused to comment on leaks from the investigation.

Concerns about the Boeing 737 Max have led to a worldwide grounding of the plane.

System update
Boeing has redesigned the software so that it will disable MCAS if it receives conflicting data from its sensors.

As part of the upgrade, Boeing will install an extra warning system on all 737 Max aircraft, which was previously an optional safety feature.

Neither of the two planes that were involved in the fatal crashes carried the alert systems, which are designed to warn pilots when sensors produce contradictory readings.

The aircraft update is designed to ensure the MCAS will no longer repeatedly make corrections when a pilot tries to regain control.

Boeing is also revising pilot training to provide "enhanced understanding of the 737 MAX" flight system and crew procedures.

Earlier this week, Boeing said that the upgrades were not an admission that the system had caused the crashes.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accidents, but a preliminary report from Ethiopian authorities is expected within days.

Boeing has tried to restore its battered reputation, while continuing to insist the 737 Max is safe.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47759966

Basically there has been a common fault with a new sensor/transducer on the aircraft which is meant to accurately determine if an aircraft is about to exceed its critical angle of attack which then leads to a stall, in this instance if the system is meant to work and we have a situation where this is the case then the sensor / anti-stall system instructs the flight control system to pitch the aircraft's nose down, see this as a see saw where the idea is to try and get back to the centre when there is too much weight on the other end.

The problem in this fatal accident is that the aircraft was not stalling to begin with ! so when the nose begins to pitch down unless you act swiftly e.g turning the anti-stalling system off you're in big trouble, the biggest concern is this happened previously but Boeing didn't red-flag the event, had they done so this accident could have been prevented because Pilots would have been aware of how to deal with the problem as an immediate containment measure, like the article said though these are just preliminary findings.

I know they have that optional redundancy warning system which has been made mandatory but it would be better if that anti-stalling system is not used altogether until they thoroughly understand it and mitigate the intermittent software faults.

 

[Zeeraq]

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 pilots 'could not stop nosedive'

The Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed last month nosedived several times before it hit the ground, a preliminary report has said.

Pilots "repeatedly" followed procedures recommended by Boeing before the crash, according to the first official report into the disaster.

Despite their efforts, pilots "were not able to control the aircraft", Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges said.

Flight ET302 crashed after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing 157 people.

It was the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft in five months.

Last October, Lion Air flight JT 610 crashed into the sea near Indonesia killing all 189 people on board.

In early Thursday trading on Wall Street, Boeing's shares were up 2.5%.

In a news conference in Addis Ababa, Ms Dagmawit said: "The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly [that were] provided by the manufacturer but were not able to control the aircraft."

Her comments were based on a preliminary report into the crash, which has not been published yet, but could be released by the end of the week.

The 737 Max family of aircraft was grounded following the Ethiopian Airlines crash, a move affecting more than 300 planes.
What does the report say about the cause of the crash?

The preliminary report did not attribute blame for the crash and did not give detailed analysis of the flight.

But it did suggest that Boeing review the aircraft control system and said aviation authorities should confirm the problem had been solved before allowing the 737 Max back into the air.

In a statement, the chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, said he was "very proud" of the pilots' "high level of professional performance".

"It was very unfortunate they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nosediving," the airline said in a statement.

Investigators have focused their attention on the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) - software designed to help prevent the 737 Max from stalling.

The software reacts when sensors in the nose of the aircraft show the jet is climbing at too steep an angle, which can cause a plane to stall.

What happened to the Lion Air flight?

An investigation into the Lion Air flight suggested the system malfunctioned, and forced the plane's nose down more than 20 times before it crashed into the sea.

The preliminary report from Indonesian investigators found that a faulty sensor on the aircraft wrongly triggered MCAS without the pilots' knowledge.

Boeing has been working on an upgrade of the MCAS software since the Lion Air crash.

It has said the system can be disabled - allowing pilots to regain control if there appears to be a problem.

But the latest comments from Ethiopian officials suggest that pilots could not regain control, despite following procedures recommended by Boeing.

Two crashes, five months apart, with a total of 346 people dead.

Both preliminary crash reports suggest a new design to the 737 Max 8 malfunctioned, pushing each plane repeatedly into a nosedive.

One lawsuit has been filed. More are likely.

The suffering of those who've lost loved ones can't be quantified. But the commercial toll for the manufacturer and damage to its reputation, at this stage, can't be either.

Hundreds of 737 Maxs are grounded worldwide. Thousands of orders are, for now on ice, and some could even be in jeopardy.

The Max was Boeing's answer to Airbus' A320: a single-aisle, fuel-efficient short-haul plane.

But in the opinion of one experienced 737 pilot, the new anti-stall system, which was added to the aircraft and contributed to both crashes, was "flawed".

Boeing is working to fix it. It needs to get the aircraft certified as safe and back in the air as soon as it can.

What has Boeing done since the crash?

Boeing has issued guidance to pilots on how to manage MCAS.

It plans to install an extra warning system on all 737 Max aircraft, which was previously an optional safety feature.

It is also revising pilot training to provide "enhanced understanding of the 737 Max" flight system and crew procedures.

The planemaker says the upgrades are not an admission that MCAS caused the crashes.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47812225