Boeing faces growing scrutiny in Ethiopian crash probe
Parallels have been drawn between flight 302 and the doomed Lion Air plane as experts probe black boxes
Addis Ababa/Paris — The world’s biggest planemaker faced escalating pressure on Monday after Ethiopia pointed to parallels between its crash and one in Indonesia, sharpening the focus on the safety of software installed in Boeing 737 MAX planes. The Ethiopian Airlines disaster just over a week ago killed 157 people, grounded Boeing’s marquee MAX fleet worldwide, and sparked a high-stakes inquiry for the shaken aviation industry. Ethiopian Airlines, whose reputation also hinges on the investigation, said at the weekend initial analysis of the black boxes showed “clear similarities” with a Lion Air flight from Jakarta in October that crashed, killing 189 people. Both planes were MAX 8s and crashed minutes after take-off with pilots reporting flight control problems. Under scrutiny is a new automated system in the MAX model that guides the nose lower to avoid stalling. Legislators and safety experts are asking how thoroughly regulators vetted the system and how well pilots around the w...
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