Ethiopian crash hub: Report no-show, U.S. regulator warns Boeing

By Africanews

Last updated: 13/08/2024

The March 10 crash

On March 10, the world was hit by the news that a passenger aircraft operated by Africa’s top national carrier had crashed. The reference point for the information was solely the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

It remained the most quoted source for hours before the flier, Ethiopian Airlines, confirmed with further details of the said incident.

The focus of this article is to put as much information as possible on the crash, straddling the before, during and aftermath of what is one of the deadliest incidents Ethiopian has faced in recent years.

You can read about the following areas in our continued coverage below:

Report no-show, FAA warns Boeing

Preliminary report out today (April 1)

Last words of one of the pilots before crash

Anti-stall feature active at time of crash

Boeing sued in Chicago court by Rwandan kids

Boeing unveils software fix 737 MAX planes

Ethiopian refutes news on probe report

Preliminary report expected soon

Ethiopian pledges to continue with Boeing

Indonesia airline cancels Boeing MAX orders

Preliminary report no-show, FAA to grill Boeing software

Authorities in Ethiopia flip-flopped on an earlier report on Monday that it was due to release a preliminary report on the ET302 crash. “Not today, maybe this week,” the source said, when asked about the report.

Incidentally this Reuters source was from the Transport Ministry which is leading the team probing the incident.

A Foreign Affairs Ministry official was cited for the initial information that the report was due to be released Monday. Nebiat Getachew was widely quoted with Bloomberg adding that embattled plane maker Boeing said it was reviewing the report.

Meanwhile the United States aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA; says it was waiting to receive final package of Boeing’s software enhancement over the coming weeks.

FAA said in a statement: “Time is needed for Boeing to as the result of an ongoing review of the 737 MAX flight control system to ensure that Boeing has identified and appropriately addressed all pertinent issues.

Upon receipt, the FAA will subject Boeing’s completed submission to a rigorous safety review. The FAA not approve the software for installation until the agency is satisfied with the submission.”

The plane maker last week announced a software upgrade and invited its clients to a meeting over the issue. The meeting was however poorly attended with Ethiopian opting out.

#FAA statement on the Boeing 737 MAX software update. pic.twitter.com/L66M4LcJEJ

— The FAA (FAANews) April 1, 2019

Preliminary report expected today, April 1

Reports from Addis Ababa indicate that a preliminary report from the March 1 crash in Bishoftu is expected today, three weeks after the incident which claimed 157 people.

The Bloomberg news portal quoted a Foreign Ministry official, Nebiat Getachew, as confirming the information. Embattled plane maker Boeing said it was reviewing the report.

The airline had last week disputed a news item that said its CEO had hinted that a report of the ET302 flight was due last week or earliest this week.

Ethiopian said at the time that in keeping with international standards, it was waiting for the result as all concerned parties and cautioned against irresponsible reportage.

Ethiopian GCEO did not say anything about the time the investigation report will be released,” the said in a statement.

Boeing has been under pressure as results are being awaited. Its 737 Max 8 jets have been grounded globally with its shares plumetting on the stock market.

Two key findings from the probe indicates that there were similarities between the March 10 crash and an October 2018 incident that involved Indonesian flier Lion Air.

Late last week, the Wall Street Journal, WSJ, reported that the plane’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a new anti-stall mechanism was activated at the time of the crash.

The newspaper said the preliminary findings from the “black box” recorders were subject to revisions. The plane crashed on March 10 shortly after take off from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, Kenya.

Investigators into the Lion Air incident have also focused on the new anti-stall system. Boeing last Wednesday said a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the centre of safety concerns.

“Pitch up, pitch up” last words of worried pilot

Three weeks after the March 10 crash that claimed the lives of all 157 people on board, leaked details have indicated the final words by one of the pilots on the aircraft.

One pilot, according to the Wall Street Journal, said to the other “pitch up, pitch up!” before their radio died. It is believed that these words were contained on the flight recorder – black box.

Amid an eagerly awaited preliminary report; an anti-stalling system on the Boeing 737 Max, has been blamed for the disaste.

The plane had taken-off – and was only 450ft (137m) above the ground – when its nose began to pitch down. It crashed six minutes into the journey in the town of Bishoftu.

Boeing’s anti-stall system activated before crash – WSJ

Investigators into a Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia that killed 157 people have reached a preliminary conclusion that an anti-stall system was activated before the plane hit the ground, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people briefed on the matter.

The newspaper said the preliminary findings from the “black box” recorders were subject to revisions, adding a preliminary report from Ethiopian investigators was expected within days.

The plane crashed on March 10 shortly after take off from Addis Ababa.

Investigators into a deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia in October have also focused on the new anti-stall system, called MCAS. Boeing on Wednesday said a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the centre of safety concerns.

Boeing’s fastest-selling 737 MAX jet, with orders worth more than $500 billion at list prices, has been grounded globally by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), although airlines are still allowed to fly them without passengers to move planes to other airports.

Boeing sued in U.S. by Rwandan kids

A lawsuit against Boeing Co was filed in U.S. federal court on Thursday in what appeared to be the first suit over a March 10 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash that killed 157 people.

The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, and alleges that Boeing, which manufactures the 737 MAX, had defectively designed the automated flight control system.

Wednesday’s complaint was filed by Musoni’s three minor children, who are Dutch citizens residing in Belgium.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

The 737 MAX planes were grounded worldwide following the Ethiopian Airlines disaster, which came five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189 people.

Boeing said on Wednesday it had reprogrammed software on its 737 MAX to prevent erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that is facing mounting scrutiny in the wake of two deadly nose-down crashes in the past five months.

The planemaker said the anti-stall system, which is believed to have repeatedly forced the nose lower in at least one of the accidents, in Indonesia last October, would only do so once per event after sensing a problem, giving pilots more control.

The crash of Boeing’s passenger jet in Ethiopia raised the chances that families of the victims, even non-U.S. residents, will be able to sue in U.S. courts, where payouts are much larger than in other countries, some legal experts have said.

The lawsuit says Boeing failed to warn the public, airlines and pilots of the airplane’s allegedly erroneous sensors, causing the aircraft to dive automatically and uncontrollably.

Ethiopian officials and some analysts have said the Ethiopian Airlines jet behaved in a similar pattern as the 737 MAX involved in October’s Lion Air disaster. The investigation into the March crash, which is being led by the Ethiopian Transport Ministry, is still at an early stage

Boeing unveils software fix to 737 MAX

Embattled aviation giant Boeing pledged Wednesday to do all it can to prevent crashes like two that killed nearly 350 people in recent months, as it unveiled a fix to the flight software of its grounded 737 MAX aircraft.

Boeing gathered hundreds of pilots and reporters to unveil the changes to the MCAS stall prevention system, which has been implicated in the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, as part of a charm offensive to restore the company’s reputation.

“We are going to do everything to make sure that accidents like this don’t happen again,” Mike Sinnett, Boeing’s vice president of product strategy, told reporters at a factory in Washington state.

Sinnett said were developed “after months of testing and hundreds of hours” — at the company’s massive factory in Renton, Washington.

The MCAS, which lowers the aircraft’s nose if it detects a stall or loss of airspeed, was developed specifically for the 737 MAX, which has heavier engines than its predecessor.

Among the changes, the MCAS will no longer repeatedly make corrections when the pilot tries to regain control, and will automatically disconnect in the event of disagreements between the two “angle of attack” (AOA) sensors, the company said.

The initial investigation into the October Lion Air crash in Indonesia, which killed all 189 people on board, found that one of the AOA sensors failed but continued to transmit erroneous information to the MCAS.

Boeing also will install a warning feature — at no cost —- called a “disagree light” to indicate to the pilot when the left and right AOA sensors are out of sync.

The company also is revising pilot training, including for those already certified on the 737, to provide “enhanced understanding of the 737 MAX” flight system and crew procedures.

AFP

We have not commented on preliminary report of probe

Barely hours after Reuters reported that CEO of the airline had said they expected preliminary results from the crash probe, Ethiopian has described the report as misleading.

An official statement issued on March 26 said the airline was in line with international standards waiting the outcome of the probe stressing that its CEO had not made the said claims.

Twitter schools CNN on Ethiopia’s safety record, reputation

Statement: Ethiopian Airlines refutes misleading reporting

“We, at Ethiopian strongly refutes recent reports which state that Ethiopian GCEO expected the preliminary release of a report into the March 10 crash of its Boeing 737-8 MAX “maybe this week or next week”. Ethiopian GCEO did not say anything about the time the investigation report will be released.

“We want to make clear to the world that we have no mandate to comment on the investigation and we can’t make such incorrect statement.

“We urge all concerned to refrain from making such uninformed, incorrect, irresponsible and misleading statements during the period of the accident investigation. International regulations require all stakeholders to wait patiently for the result of the investigation.”

Ethiopian Airlines CEO says preliminary crash report “may be this week or next”

Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Officer Tewolde Gebremariam said on Monday he expected the preliminary release of a report into the March 10 crash of its Boeing 737 800 MAX “maybe this week or next week”.

Tewolde told Reuters the airline may or may not attend a briefing in the United States by Boeing about a planned update to software that is a focus of investigation in two deadly crashes that have prompted worldwide groundings of the 737 MAX.

‘We will work with all, to make air travel safer’

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said on Monday, that the company will work with investigators in Ethiopia, the United States and elsewhere “to figure out what went wrong with flight 302”.

Tewolde’s pledge follows reports the investigation was under strain because information about the March 10 crash, which killed 157 people, was not being shared with international partners.

The spokesperson of the airline Asrat Begashaw had earlier told Reuters that the company has ‘no immediate plans to attend’ a meeting in the United States called by planemaker Boeing to tell aviation leaders about a planned update to software that is a focus of investigation in two deadly crashes.

Planemaker Boeing has come under intense scrutiny since the crash was the second in five months involving its new 737 MAX 8 model.

Boeing Co says it has invited more than 200 global airline pilots, technical leaders and regulators for an information session on Wednesday as it looks to return its 737 MAX model to commercial service.

Boeing-Ethiopian relationship

Tewolde also said the airline’s relationship with Boeing was sound.

“Despite the tragedy, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to be linked well into the future,” he said. “We pledge to work with Boeing and our colleagues in all the airlines to make air travel even safer.”

Boeing’s 737 MAX fleet has been grounded worldwide since the crash, wiping $28 billion off the company’s market value and throwing doubt over advance orders of the plane, worth more than $500 billion.

“I fully support this. Until we have answers, putting one more life at risk is too much,” Tewolde said of the grounding.

Boeing Max orders in jeopardy

Indonesian airline Garuda on Friday became the first airline to publicly announce it was planning to cancel a $6 billion order for Boeing 737 MAX jets because some passengers say they would be frightened to board the plane after two fatal crashes.

The 737 MAX was Boeing’s fastest selling jet before an Ethiopian Airlines crash near Addis Ababa on March 10, five months after a Lion Air jet plunged into the sea in Indonesia.

Garuda CEO Ari Askhara told Reuters on Friday: “Many passengers told us they were afraid to get on a MAX 8.”

However, the airline had been reconsidering its order for 49 of the narrowbody jets before the Ethiopian crash, including potentially swapping some for widebody Boeing models.

Southeast Asia faces a glut of narrowbody aircraft like the 737 MAX and rival Airbus A320neo at a time of slowing global economic growth and high fuel costs.

“They have been re-looking at their fleet plan anyway so this is an opportunity to make some changes that otherwise may be difficult to do,” CAPA Centre for Aviation Chief Analyst Brendan Sobie said.

Indonesia’s Lion Air has also said it might cancel 737 MAX aircraft, though industry sources say it is also struggling to absorb the number of planes on order.

Meanwhile, in the United States, American Airlines pilots prepared to test Boeing Co’s planned software upgrade for an anti-stall system on MAX simulators this weekend, saying they want their own safety guarantees on the fix.

The following areas are discussed below:

Airline fights NYT, Washington Post misinformation

Black-box analysis in Addis, to involve French, American experts

Ethiopia’s reputation stable, FAA orders audit of 737-Max 8

Ethiopian investigators return from Paris

Ethiopian freezes all Boeing 737Max orders

Boeing confirms updating of design software

Photos: Mass funeral ceremony for accident victims

Ethiopian says victims DNA tests to take months

Trump’s nice words about Ethiopian as he speaks with Abiy

Black box investigations start

Airline fends off misinformation by U.S. media

In a space of 24-hours, Ethiopian Airline has issued two press statements pointing out what it says are false reports by two American media outlets – the New York Times, NYT; and Washington Post.

On Thursday, the airline said it was disappointed at a report carried by the New York Times which suggested pilot of the ET 302 was not properly trained.

The article titled “Ethiopian Airlines Had a Max 8 Simulator, but Pilot on Doomed Flight Didn’t Receive Training,” reported that the airline was complicit in the crash but Ethiopian insisted that its pilots had completed all necessary training for the planes they handle.

“We urge all concerned to refrain from making such uninformed, incorrect, irresponsible and misleading statements during the period of the accident investigation,” the statement read in part.

Ethiopian Airlines expresses its disappointment on the following wrong reporting of the nytimes titled “Ethiopian Airlines Had a Max 8 Simulator, but Pilot on Doomed Flight Didn’t Receive Training” pic.twitter.com/FsASbdm3Sv

— Ethiopian Airlines (flyethiopian) March 21, 2019

Early Friday morning, the airline issued another statement in response to an article published a day before in the Washington Post.

Ethiopian strongly refuted what it said were baseless and factually inaccurate allegations in the said story. “All the allegations in the article are false defamations without any evidence, collected from unknown and unreliable sources to divert attention from the global grounding of the B-737 MAX airplanes.”

The statement underscored the high level of training and safety standards that the airline has committed to over the past decades. “The airline has invested more than half a billion dollars in infrastructure only in the last 5 years which is not common in a typical global airline,” the statement added.

As in the case of the NYT statement, they stressed the need for all stakeholders to wait for the outcome of the probe currently underway to ascertain the real cause of the crash. It accused the Washington Post of trying by their story to divert attention from the real issues.

“...the subject article us trying to cover the main focus of the world to unrelated and factually incorrect allegations.” The airline also demanded that the said article be recalled and an apology issued with the correct facts.

Ethiopian Airlines strongly refutes all the baseless and factually incorrect allegations written in the washingtonpost dated March 21, 2019. pic.twitter.com/O9ayncVw5M

— Ethiopian Airlines (flyethiopian) March 22, 2019

Black-box analysis in Addis, to involve French, American experts

From the day of the unfortunate plane crash (March 10) through to the retrieval of the black boxes (flight recorders). Then the acceptance of French authorities to help download the information contained along with European and American experts.

The content of the black-boxes have this week returned to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The next leg of a keenly watched investigation process is analysing the downloaded data.

The Bloomberg portal reports that experts seized with the matter are gathering in Ethiopia to ascertain the exact cause of the ET302 crash in Ethiopia’s Bishoftu.

Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses, BEA, the Paris-based civil aviation safety body that helped download the data said it was sending three investigators to help in the process even though all analysis was to be carried out by Ethiopians.

Aside the Ethiopian and BEA teams, experts from the United States’ Federal Aviation Authority, FAA, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and plane manufacturer Boeing have also been invited to partake.

Pressure has over the past week been mounting on Boeing after the crash. In a matter of days, the world grounded all of the Boeing Max 737 8s that were in operation. The company’s shares also tumbled on the stock market.

Boeing is currently the subject of federal investigations along with its regulator, FAA, who have partly been blamed for doing a poor job in the certification process of the now controversial jets.

The Ethiopian crash came five months after a similar one suffered by Indonesian operator Lion Air, that flight had 189 people on board. Initial commentary have suggested that there were clear similarities between the two accidents. Initial results of the Ethiopian crash is expected in 30 days.

Backlash over biased foreign media coverage of ET302 crash

Ethiopian has faith of travellers, partners; US orders 737-Max audit

On Tuesday (March 19) the U.S. government ordered the aviation regulator to conduct an audit of the Boeing 737-Max 8 jets as part of efforts aimed at identifying the cause of recent plane crashes.

The Department of Transportation asked the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, to: “proceed with an audit to compile an objective and detailed factual history of the activities that resulted in the certification of the Boeing 737-MAX 8 aircraft.”

It said the move was to “help inform the Department’s decision making and the public’s understanding, and to assist the FAA in ensuring that its safety procedures are implemented effectively.”

The March 19 order was contained in a memo issued by Secretary Elaine L. Chao and directed at the FAA’s Inspector General.

Meanwhile a Reuters news analysis shows that the airline remains in the good books of travellers and its business partners in the wake of the March 10 incident.

The airline has confirmed that its bookings and scheduling has remained stable post March 10. International lenders and African partners also said relations were normal.

Explainer: Travelers and partners keep faith with Ethiopian Airlines

March 19: Ethiopian investigators return from Paris

Ethiopian air crash investigators have returned to Addis Ababa from Paris where they had reviewed the black box data from a doomed Ethiopian Airlines jet, two sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters on Tuesday.

Data from the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder is now in Addis Ababa, one of the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The crash of the Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 airliner last week killed all 157 people on board and prompted regulators to ground the model pending more information from the investigation.

on Bloomberg terminal — Ethiopia Investigators Return From Paris After Crash Data Brief:

Ethiopian investigators return to Addis Ababa from Paris, Civil Aviation Authority Director-General Col Wossenyeleh Hunegnaw says by phone, without giving further information. #ET302 #737Max— Nizar Manek (@japanizar) March 19, 2019

“Clear Similarities”: Black box data from doomed Ethiopian, Lion Air incidents

March 18: Why Ethiopian has frozen orders for controversial jets

Ethiopian Airlines have reportedly frozen all its orders for the Boeing 737 Max jets. The Addis Ababa correspondent for Bloomberg said the move was pending the probe from crash of ET302.

The journalist quoted a spokesperson as confirming that Ethiopian’s remaining orders for Boeing aircraft will depend on preliminary results of investigation report expected within 30-days.

This is the latest move of the Airline around the beleaguered planes. They were the first to ground all the models a day after the incident which claimed 157 lives.

Most Airlines followed suit whiles countries around the world also closed their airspaces to the plane. Eventually the US govt and the regulator agreed to ground the jets. A decision Boeing said they agreed with.

March 17: Boeing statement on ET302 accident investigations

Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg issued the following statement regarding the report from Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges today.

First and foremost, our deepest sympathies are with the families and loved ones of those onboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.

Boeing continues to support the investigation, and is working with the authorities to evaluate new information as it becomes available. Safety is our highest priority as we design, build and support our airplanes.

As part of our standard practice following any accident, we examine our aircraft design and operation, and when appropriate, institute product updates to further improve safety.

While investigators continue to work to establish definitive conclusions, Boeing is finalizing its development of a previously-announced software update and pilot training revision that will address the MCAS flight control law’s behavior in response to erroneous sensor inputs.

We also continue to provide technical assistance at the request of and under the direction of the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Accredited Representative working with Ethiopian investigators.

In accordance with international protocol, all inquiries about the ongoing accident investigation must be directed to the investigating authorities.

Scared Ethiopian pilot mentioned flight control issue before crash

Funeral ceremony held for crash victims

A burial service was held today (March 17) for victims of the March 10 crash that claimed 157 passengers in the Ethiopian town of Bishoftu.

Family, friends and other mourners converged for the burial ceremony of the crash victims at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Orthodox church in Addis Ababa.

Technical investigations into the cause of the accident is currently underway in France. Data from the black boxes have been downloaded and a team of European experts are supposed to work on them.

⚠️?? 03/10 accident to the #Boeing737Max BoeingAirplanes flyethiopian / Data from the CVR has been successfully downloaded by BEA_Aero and transfered to the Ethiopian investigation team / communication on their behalf / BEA_Aero did not listen to the audio files.— BEA | Bureau d'Enquêtes & d'Analyses ✈️ ?? ?? (@BEA_Aero) March 16, 2019

Crash victim DNA tests to take months

Ethiopian Airlines said on Saturday that DNA testing of the remains of the 157 passengers on board flight 302 may take up to six months as it offered bereaved families charred earth from the plane crash site to bury.

As families wait for the results from the investigation into the cause of the crash, Ethiopian Airlines is planning to hold a service on Sunday in Addis Ababa, at the Kidist Selassie, or Holy Trinity Cathedral, where many of the country’s past rulers are buried beneath its pink stone spires.

“We were told by the company that we will be given a kilo (of earth) each for burial at Selassie Church for a funeral they will organise,” said one family member who asked not to be named.

Papers given to the families at the Skylight Hotel on Saturday said death certificates would be issued within two weeks, and an initial payment made to cover immediate expenses.

The return of remains – most of which are charred and fragmented – would take up to six months, the papers said, but in the meantime earth from the crash site would be given.

Abdulmajid Sheriff, a Kenyan whose Yemeni brother-in-law died, said they had already held a service.

“We are Muslims we didn’t care about that (earth). We did yesterday our prayers at the mosque and that is all for us.”

Trump on Ethiopian and Abiy’s reforms

U.S. president Donald Trump has praised the Ethiopia national carrier in a call with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday. Abiy’s office said the two had spoken in a phone call which centered on the March 10 crash and on reforms back home.

PM Abiy Ahmed & realDonaldTrump in a phone call today shared their condolences to the people of both countries for the loss of lives in the fatal Flight 302 President Trump hailed flyethiopian as a strong institution & affirmed provision of technical support where needed. 1/2— Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) March 15, 2019