Ethiopian Airlines preliminary crash report shows similarities to Lion Air disaster

Ethiopian Airlines preliminary crash report shows similarities to Lion Air disaster

The pilots on board Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 battled the plane of automatic flight control systems for the entire duration of the six-minute flight, according to a preliminary report on the crash obtained by CNN on Thursday.

Unable to stabilize the 737 Max 8 planes after the last stages of the flight, the preliminary report revealed. But the downward force of the aircraft was too much to overcome.

The captain called out "pull up" three times to the first officer to raise the nose. Both pilots tried to pull the nose up, but they were unable to regain control. The aircraft's automated systems lowered the nose during the flight.
Airplane 610 – which operated the same 737 Max 8 model and crashed in October – What could be a major blow to Boeing as it struggles to get the aircraft back in service.
The report on the Ethiopian Airlines crash does not specifically name the Max 8's plane's anti-stall system – called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) – which is suspected to have contributed to the Lion Air disaster. But it is possible that the MCAS system is pushed to a dive fueled by erroneous angle of attack sensor readings.

Boeing is currently working on the system. The company acknowledged the similarities between the two crashes in a statement Thursday. "The preliminary report contains information about the aircraft." "The preliminary report contains information about the flight of the aircraft," he said.

"To ensure unintended MCAS activation will not occur again, Boeing has developed and is planning to release a software update to MCAS and an badociated comprehensive pilot training and supplementary education program for the 737 MAX."
Speaking before the release of the report, Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges suggests that Boeing review "the aircraft flight control system related to the flight controllability."

She told reporters in Addis Ababa that he said that it would be a good idea for aviation authorities to verify that Boeing has "adequately addressed" flight control issues "before release of the aircraft to operations."

The preliminary report, which has not yet been released, does not come to a probable cause. A final report could be taken as long as a year to produce.

The timeline of the flight, detailed in the preliminary report, reveals that the pilots' struggle to control the plane.

Seventy seconds after takeoff from Addis Ababa 's Bole International Airport on March 10th, one of the angle of attack sensors on board the aircraft.

The stick shaker on the pilot's yoke – another system intended for warn a pilot of an imminent stall – began shaking the yoke. Incorrectly sensing a stall, the aircraft's system has the ability to fly in the air.

Recognizing a problem with the automatic control, the pilots and the system. Instead, the pilots tried to work on the back cover, but it was difficult to operate.

Less than two minutes later, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed, killing 157 pbadengers and flight crews.

Read also: Ethiopia pilots 'could not stop nosedive'

Source: CNN