Investigators confirm Boeing 737 Max’s automated commands pushed nose down
The Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 pilots followed all the safety procedures laid out by Boeing, says Ethiopia’s transportation minister
Washington/Nairobi — The pilots of a 737 Max jetliner that crashed in Ethiopia in March struggled as the plane’s automated commands pushed the nose down, investigators said on Thursday in the first official word on the disaster that killed 157 people and sparked a crisis for plane maker Boeing and aviation regulators. The plane appeared “very normal” on takeoff and then suffered “repetitive uncommanded nose-down,” Ethiopia’s transportation minister, Dagmawit Moges, said in a news conference in Addis Ababa. The pilots followed all the safety procedures laid out by Boeing, she said, adding that the plane maker should review the system. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 flew about six minutes on its flight from Addis Ababa before smashing into the ground, killing all aboard. Boeing has said it’s reviewing the report. The crash was the second fatal accident in five months for Boeing’s top-selling jetliner, after a Lion Air aircraft plunged into the Java Sea in October and killed 189 people....
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