The preliminary investigation report on the crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 in Ethiopia sees no errors in the crew of the machine. This was announced by the Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges. In the crash in March, all 157 people had died aboard the plane.
To find out the cause of the crash, the black box of the Boeing machine was evaluated. A final report is expected to be in one year, according to Moges.
Nose pressed down again and again
The data of the black box had shown that the crew of the aircraft had taken all the prescribed steps to prevent the crash. However, the crew failed to bring the aircraft under control. There are indications that the nose of the Boeing 737 Max 8 has repeatedly lowered, despite the pilot’s attempt to counteract.
The investigator team is recommending Boeing to test its flight control system, Moges said. Also competent aviation authorities should control the system before machines of the type should be able to take off again.
In Focus: The MCAS Control System
Already after the crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 in Indonesia last October, initial investigations indicated that the MCAS control software might have worked incorrectly. Even with the Lion Air machine, the nose was pressed down again and again. The MCAS system was developed by Boeing for the Max 8 series. The accident in Indonesia killed 189 people.
