Ethiopian Airlines: "Crew did everything they could"

Air
04-04-2019 1:42 pm
Christine Hogg

Christine Hogg

Christine Hogg is the Associate Digital Editor at PAX Global Media. Prior to joining PAX, she obtained her Honours BA in Journalism from the University of Toronto. Upon graduating, she went on to write for several travel publications while travelling the world. Her longest trip was a three-week stint in Europe, and the shortest was a 16-hour adventure in Iceland. Get in touch: christine@paxglobalmedia.com.

Investigators have released the results of the preliminary findings from the black boxes aboard a doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight, operated on a Boeing 737 MAX 8, which crashed last month, killing all 157 people on board.

According to reports by CNN, investigators have ruled out that Ethiopian Airlines crew did everything right, and followed all procedures, but were still unable to control the plane, and essentially do anything to stop an inevitable crash from occurring, even after they tried to override the failing MCAS system.

In the early days following the crash, investigators first began to suspect that a faulty angle of attack sensor on the outside of the plane sent incorrect data, ultimately forcing automated flight software - called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS - to kick into overdrive, which eventually forced the plane's nose down.

MCAS is a kind of safety system intended to keep a plane from stalling once airborne, however in both the fated Ethiopian Airlines ET 302 crash, and a similar crash aboard Lion Air Flight JT 610, where all 189 passengers were killed, MCAS failed.

Crew followed Boeing procedures

According to a report by Al Jazeera, during a press conference held earlier today in Ethiopia, the country's transport minister Dagmawit Moges said that the crew on board ET 302 followed all correct procedures recommended by Boeing, but were unable to take back control of the jet once MCAS started to stall.

Al Jazeera says that Moges said the report recommends "the aircraft flight control system shall be reviewed by the manufacturer."

Boeing has not yet commented on the preliminary findings of today's press conference, however, the company did issue a Tweet, which they say demonstrates their MCAS technology working properly:

Dennis Muilenburg, @BoeingCEO, experienced first-hand our MCAS software update performing safely in action during a 737 MAX 7 demo flight today.

More about the proposed MCAS software update here: https://t.co/TJrfcYG4ok pic.twitter.com/OcCiMnc7I5
— The Boeing Company (@Boeing) April 3, 2019

In a statement dated March 27 on Boeing's website, the company writes:

"...be assured that we are bringing all of the resources of The Boeing Company to bear, working together tirelessly to understand what happened and do everything possible to ensure it doesn’t happen again. All of us thank Ethiopian Airlines for their commitment and share their resolve to doing everything possible to build an even safer air travel system."

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