Ethiopian Airlines: "Clear similarities" with the crash of Indonesia

Flight data from the Ethiopian Airlines disaster a week ago suggest "obvious similarities" with a crash in Indonesia last October, the Ethiopian Minister of Transport said.

Both aircraft were Boeing 737 Max 8s.

Last Sunday, the plane of Ethiopian Airlines crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa, killing 157 people on board.

Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges told reporters that a preliminary report would be released within 30 days.

"Obvious similarities were noted between flight 302 of Ethiopian Airlines and flight 610 of the Indonesian airline Lion Air, which will be the subject of further study during the Investigation, "Dagmawit told reporters Sunday.

In both cases, flight tracking data showed that the aircraft's altitude had fluctuated significantly, with aircraft appearing to experience irregular uphill and downhill flight.

Also on Sunday, ceremonies were held in Kenya and Ethiopia to honor the victims.

Thousands of people gathered in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Addis Ababa, where empty coffins were draped under the national flag. None of these bodies have yet been officially recognized because of the impact.

What do we know about the crash of Ethiopian Airlines?

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 took off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on the morning of March 10th to Nairobi, Kenya.

A few minutes after the flight started, the pilot reported difficulties and asked to return.

Visibility was considered good but the air traffic controller, Flightradar24, stated that the "vertical speed of the aircraft was unstable after take-off".

An eyewitness at the scene told the BBC that there was a fierce fire when the plane hit the ground.

French air safety investigators examined the flight data recorder and the badpit voice recorder – or black boxes as they are often called – and handed their findings to their Ethiopian counterparts.

What happened in Indonesia?

On 29 October, Lion Air flight 610 crashed after taking off from Jakarta airport, killing 189 people.

The investigators then identified problems with the anti-stall system, designed to prevent an aircraft from heading upwards at too high an angle, which could cause it to lose lift.

During the JT610 flight, the system forced the aircraft to nose down several times, even when the aircraft did not pick up, possibly due to a faulty sensor.

The pilots tried to correct this by pointing the nose higher, until the system pushes it away again. It has happened more than 20 times.

Following the second accident, airlines around the world stopped their Boeing 737 Max 8s.