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Everything we know about the Ethiopian plane crash
Ethiopian Airlines pilots 'followed expected procedures before crash'
By Helen Regan and Ben Westcott, CNN
Updated 31 min ago7:06 a.m. ET, April 4, 2019
Analyst questions why 737 Max wasn't grounded after Lion Air crash
CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien believes the 737 Max fleet should have been grounded before the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
O'Brien said there was enough information for Boeing to ground the planes in the aftermath of the Lion Air accident, also involving a 737 Max 8 jet, in October 2018.
That plane crashed into the sea off Indonesia shortly after take off, killing 189 people, and some similarities have been discovered with the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
"Why wasn't the aircraft grounded then?" he asked.
Human cost of crash should not be forgotten
Five members of one family were among those killedwhen Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa.
Carol Karanja was traveling from Canada to Kenya with her mother, Ann Wangui Karanja, and three children: Ryan Njoroge, 7, Kellie Pauls, 4, and 9-month-old Rubi Pauls.
And Carol had texted her sister saying she felt uneasy about the flight.
"My heart isn't really excited. I feel like there's something bad ahead, but I don't know what," the WhatsApp message read.
She was so worried about the trip that she also sent a similar message expressing her fear to her father before she boarded the flight.
Following the tragic death of three generations of the family, Carol's brother said he has no interest in pointing fingers.
"If you look at having to point blame on others, I think it will make the healing process a bit more hard for us," Quindos Mwangi Karanja told CNN.
"I might not know exactly whether to blame the plane but let the experts finish their investigations. And then they are able to tell us the way forward."
Boeing facing series of key dates
By Chris Isidore and Jack Guy, CNN
The preliminary report in the Ethopian Airlines crash will likely place additional pressure on Boeing as it prepares to reveal key information on its first quarter performance.
On April 9 the company will report first quarter deliveries and orders, and on April 24 it will report financial results for the first three months of the year.
Analysts expect the number of deliveries to be hit by ongoing problems with the 737 Max, and financial results are expected to include an estimate for how much grounding the planes will cost in compensation to its airline customers.
Cowen aerospace analyst Cai von Rumohr estimates that cost is already $2 billion, and the price goes up every day the planes aren't flying.
Boeing executives will then face shareholders on April 29 at its annual meeting in Chicago.
You can read more about the potential implications for Boeing in our CNN Business report.
Ethiopia flight experienced 'repetitive uncommanded aircraft nose-down conditions'
From CNN’s Gregory Wallace
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 experienced “repetitive uncommanded aircraft nose-down conditions” before its crash, the Ethiopian Transportation Minister said Thursday.
Dagmawit Moges described symptoms that appear similar to the Lion Air accident in October -- which also involved a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet -- although she did not refer to that incident in her remarks, nor did she specify what caused the plane to veer downward.
Moges spoke in a news conference ahead of the expected release of a preliminary report on the crash.
Based on that finding, she said accident investigators are recommending Boeing review the “the aircraft flight control system related to the flight controllability,” and that regulators ensure fixes are “adequately addressed” before returning the 737 MAX fleet to service.
Ethiopian Airlines said in a separate statement that “it was very unfortunate” the pilots “could not recover the airplane from the persistence (of) nose diving.”
Problems with an automated system known as MCAS were reported in the Lion Air crash in October. The preliminary report in that incident described the pilots repeatedly fighting with MCAS as it repeatedly pushed the aircraft’s nose down, and ultimately drove it into ocean. The report said the plane experienced “automatic AND (aircraft nose down) trim active followed by flight crew commanded ANU (aircraft nose up) trim” and it “continued for the remainder of the flight.”
Investigators yet to publish report
While Ethiopian investigators announced in a press conference the findings of the preliminary report, they haven't actually published the report.
CNN anchor and aviation expert Richard Quest said this was "unusual."
"We are slightly taking their word for what they are saying is in the report," he said.
Preliminary report 'likely to amplify the scrutiny Boeing is facing'
From CNN's Oren Liebermann
The black boxes from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 were flown to France for analysis on March 14, 2019.
To some extent, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing tried to address many of the issues raised in by investigators after the Lion Air crash back in November.
On November 7, 2018, the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive because the flight control problem experienced on that doomed flight was "likely to exist or develop in other products" of the same aircraft.
The airworthiness directive (AD) required a revision of the Airplane Flight Manual and the Operating Procedures.
Crucially, the AD did not ground the 737 Max series aircraft.
The FAA has already faced scrutiny for its decision not to ground the aircraft earlier, and this preliminary report from Ethiopian Airlines 302 is likely to increase that scrutiny.
On November 11, 2018, Boeing issued a message to operators of the 737 Max series aircraft because it had "received many requests for the same information from 737 fleet operators" following the Lion Air crash. The message explained the automated MCAS anti-stall system, which adjusts the trim to try to avoid an imminent stall.
737 pilots who have spoken with CNN say this system was not explained during the transition training to the newer 737 Max series aircraft. Those pilots were essentially in the dark about a new system on the plane.
This message, issued after the Lion Air crash, tried to address that by offering pilots more information. But the preliminary report from the crash of Ethiopian Airlines 302 is once again likely to amplify the scrutiny Boeing is facing about the 737 Max aircraft.
It may also give some insight as to why Boeing and the FAA announced it would take additional time -- a few more weeks -- to get the 737 Max aircraft once again approved for service.
CNN's Oren Liebermann says a 'tremendous amount of information is still missing'
From CNN's Oren Liebermann
"A preliminary report should have information about the flight crew's experience, the weather conditions, any maintenance issues with previous flights, relevant airworthiness directives, a detailed timeline of the flight, information about the cockpit voice recorder, instrument readings and system activations from the flight data recorder, etc," says CNN's Oren Lieberman.
"In other words, there is a tremendous amount of information that we're still looking for about Ethiopian Airlines flight 302."
Investigators have not identified any damage to aircraft sensors in relation to crash
From CNN’s Gregory Wallace
Ethiopian accident investigators have not identified any damage to the aircraft’s sensors that could have contributed to the March 10 crash.
“We can confirm that we haven’t found any foreign object damage,” Amdeye Ayalew, AIB investigation chairman, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, speaking through a translator.
He also said investigators have not identified any “structural design problem” with the aircraft.
Dagmawit Moges, the Ethiopian Minister of Transport, said investigators have reviewed the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, as well as records such as “additional documents gathered from the operator” of the plane.
Ethiopian investigators make two major recommendations
Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges said that based on initial information gathered during the investigation, two safety recommendations have been forwarded in the preliminary report.
They are:
- Since repetitive and commanded aircraft nose down conditions are noticed in this preliminary investigation, it is recommended that the aircraft flight control system relative to the flight controllability shall be reviewed by the manufacturer.
- Aviation authorities shall verify that the review of aircraft control system related to flight controllability has been adequately addressed by the manufacturer before release of the aircraft to operations.
GO DEEPER
Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed Boeing's emergency procedures before crash: report
Automatic anti-stall system activated before Ethiopian Airlines crash: report
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