Ethiopian Airlines preliminary crash report shows similarities to Lion Air disaster - CNN

The captain and the first officer struggled as the Boeing 737 Max 8's systems, designed to prevent the plane stalling, repeatedly forced the nose of the plane down. For nearly six minutes, the report shows, the pilots worked through a series of procedures to try and regain control of the plane.

The captain called out "pull up" three times to tell the first officer to raise the nose. Both pilots tried to pull the nose up together to keep the plane flying, but they were unable to regain control. In total, the anti-stall system pushed the nose down four times during the flight.

In the end, after the pilots had turned back to Addis Ababa, the automated system pitched the plane into a steep dive from which it was impossible to recover, and it crashed into the ground. All 157 people on board were killed.

The problems on board the Ethiopian Airlines jet mirror those encountered on the doomed Lion Air flight 610 -- which operated the same 737 Max 8 model and crashed in October -- in what could be a significant blow to Boeing as it struggles to get the aircraft back in service.

The report on the Ethiopian Airlines crash does not specifically name the Max 8's plane's anti-stall system -- called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) -- which is suspected to have contributed to the Lion Air disaster.

But its findings make it likely that the MCAS system pushed the plane into a dive fueled by erroneous angle of attack sensor readings.

Boeing is currently working on a change to the system's software. The company recognized the similarities between the two crashes and acknowledged the role of the MCAS system in a statement Thursday. "The preliminary report contains flight data recorder information indicating the airplane had an erroneous angle of attack sensor input that activated the MCAS function during the flight, as it had during the Lion Air 610 flight," the statement said.

"To ensure unintended MCAS activation will not occur again, Boeing has developed and is planning to release a software update to MCAS and an associated comprehensive pilot training and supplementary education program for the 737 MAX."

Speaking before the release of the report, Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges suggested that Boeing review "the aircraft flight control system related to the flight controllability."

She told reporters in Addis Ababa that said her agency would recommend that aviation authorities verify that Boeing has "adequately addressed" flight control issues "before release of the aircraft to operations."

The preliminary report, which has not yet been publicly released, does not specify a cause for the crash. A final report could take as long as a year to produce.

Struggle began just after takeoff

The timeline of the flight, detailed in the preliminary report, reveals that the pilots' struggle to control the plane began moments after the plane took off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, en route to Nairobi.

Just after takeoff, one of the angle of attack sensors on board the aircraft began providing faulty information to the aircraft's systems, indicating an imminent stall to the flight crew. A stick shaker -- another system intended to warn a pilot of an imminent stall -- began shaking the pilot's yoke. Incorrectly sensing a stall, the aircraft's system tried to force the nose down.

Recognizing a problem with the automatic trim, the pilots followed emergency procedures and turned off the system. Instead, the pilots tried to use the backup manual trim wheel to adjust the trim, but the airplane was traveling too fast and the manual trim wheel would have been physically impossible to operate, according to a 737 pilot who spoke with CNN.

In the final minute of the flight, the pilot told his first officer that they had to pull up together. Thirty-two seconds before the crash, both pilots tried to trim the nose up with, and for a brief moment, the aircraft's stabilizer, controlled by the trim, made the corresponding change,

But five seconds later, the aircraft's automated systems once again trimmed the nose down, pitching the nose down even further, steepening the dive. The plane was angled 40 degrees nose down, hurtling towards the ground at 575 miles per hour as it crashed.

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam has told CNN that it was too early to say whether the remedial actions being taken by Boeing would be sufficient. He added that the preliminary report proved "all the speculators with false allegations" wrong, referring to criticism and doubts over the pilot's qualifications. The airline had "always been confident" of its pilots, he said.

Representatives of US pilots gave a cautious welcome to the report. "The initial findings of the Ethiopian investigation confirm for us that an MCAS malfunction is a serious emergency and not a benign event," said Captain Jason Goldberg, a spokesman for the American Pilots Association. "We remain cautious and hopeful that the potential fix will be thoroughly vetted and not hurried or fast tracked. The APA will remain actively engaged to ensure that the 737 Max will fly again only when all stakeholders are satisfied the aircraft is ready."​

CNN's Robyn Kriel and journalist Kaleyesus Bekele reported from Addis Ababa. Oren Liebermann wrote from Jerusalem. CNN's David Shortell and Richard Quest contributing reporting.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/04/world/ethiopian-airlines-crash-preliminary-report-intl/index.html

2019-04-04 18:58:00Z
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Caracas, once a thriving metropolis, is struggling as country plunges further into chaos - Fox News

A billboard stands empty above a highway with no traffic as the sun sets in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 18, 2019. When the sun goes down in Venezuela's capital, the once-thriving metropolis empties under darkness. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Caracas at night was like many major cities around the world – crazy traffic, people going in and out of shops, eateries, and dance clubs -- but now, as night falls in the Venezuelan capital, it seems more and more like a ghost town.

Many street lights don’t work. Residents avoid stepping outside their homes due to crime — or for lack of anything to spend — as a creeping economic collapse has accelerated amid a political battle between socialist President Nicolas Maduro and his foes at home and abroad. A string of devastating nationwide blackouts last month dramatized the decay.

Even under the light of day, billboards often have nothing to promote, their skeletal framework bare long after the wind has ripped away old advertising.

VP MIKE PENCE TO MEET IN DC WITH FAMILIES OF 6 CITGO EXECS DETAINED IN VENEZUELA

As dusk falls, many storefronts are just graffiti-scrawled security doors chained shut. Often just a single business along a city block is able to stay open, awaiting sparse customers. Others close earlier, like a beauty salon, the few remaining clients forced to decide between the simple luxury of haircut or buying food.

Caracas’ La Mercedes neighborhood, famous for its upscale shopping and nightlife, hasn’t been spared. Many of its pubs and fancy restaurants are devoid of waiters and customers. A shopping mall keeps its lights on, but the doors lock hours earlier than they did before, when they teemed with life.

The moon rises above an empty avenue in Caracas, Venezuela, late Thursday, March 21, 2019. Residents avoid stepping outside their homes due to crime, or for lack of anything to spend. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

High-rise buildings stand unfinished, the workers having long ago abandoned their jobs. Windows are covered over with cardboard rather than finished with glass.

Residents desperate for cash transform patches of sidewalk into their impromptu shops, laying out old shoes or second-hand shirts as merchandise.

The poor and hungry scour through household trash, scattering it across street corners before it’s collected, grabbing anything they can use or eat.

The despair and blight mark a precipitous fall for a country that has larger oil reserves than Saudi Arabia and that had one of Latin America’s highest living standards.

Maduro blames his domestic political opponents and the increasing grip of U.S. economic sanctions, which he says are part of a coup aimed at toppling his socialist government.

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The opposition, led by lawmaker Juan Guaidó, blames years of corrupt leadership, lack of investment and economic bungling that has left the country dependent on a collapsing oil sector and on remittances sent home by the millions who have fled the growing hardship.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 15 U.S. senators introduced bipartisan legislation to provide $400 million in new aid, internationalize sanctions and ease penalties on Venezuelan officials who recognize Guaidó as the country's president.

Maduro still retains the support of much of the Venezuelan's military, including its hierarchy, and still gets aid from countries such as Russia, Cuba and China.

David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University, wrote in The Conversation: "Russia has become Maduro’s most important ally. The Russian military equipment and personnel sent in March will likely help maintain and operate Venezuela’s sophisticated Russian-made S-300 air defense system, which protects the capital and key military bases from air attack."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-04-04 18:32:37Z
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Ethiopian Airlines preliminary crash report shows similarities to Lion Air disaster - CNN

The captain and the first officer struggled as the 737 Max 8's systems, designed to prevent the plane stalling, repeatedly forced the nose of the plane down. For nearly six minutes, the report shows, the pilots worked through a series of procedures to try and regain control of the plane.

In the end, after the pilots had turned back, the automated system pitched the plane into a steep dive from which it was impossible to recover, and it crashed into the ground.

The problems on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight mirror those encountered on the doomed Lion Air flight 610 -- which operated the same 737 Max 8 model and crashed in October -- in what could be a significant blow to Boeing as it struggles to get the aircraft back in service.

Unable to stabilize the 737 Max 8 plane even after following the emergency procedures recommended by Boeing, the pilots tried together to pull the jet's nose up repeatedly during the last moments of the flight, the preliminary report revealed. But the downward force of the aircraft was too great to overcome.

The captain called out "pull up" three times to tell the first officer to raise the nose. Both pilots tried to pull the nose up together to keep the plane flying, but they were unable to regain control. The aircraft's automated systems lowered the nose four times during the flight.

The problems on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight mirror those encountered on the doomed Lion Air flight 610 -- which operated the same 737 Max 8 model and crashed in October -- in what could be a major blow to Boeing as it struggles to get the aircraft back in service.

The report on the Ethiopian Airlines crash does not specifically name the Max 8's plane's anti-stall system -- called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) -- which is suspected to have contributed to the Lion Air disaster. But its findings make it likely that the MCAS system pushed the plane into a dive fueled by erroneous angle of attack sensor readings.

Boeing is currently working on a change to the system's software. The company acknowledged the similarities between the two crashes in a statement Thursday. "The preliminary report contains flight data recorder information indicating the airplane had an erroneous angle of attack sensor input that activated the MCAS function during the flight, as it had during the Lion Air 610 flight," the statement said.

"To ensure unintended MCAS activation will not occur again, Boeing has developed and is planning to release a software update to MCAS and an associated comprehensive pilot training and supplementary education program for the 737 MAX."

Speaking before the release of the report, Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges suggested that Boeing review "the aircraft flight control system related to the flight controllability."

She told reporters in Addis Ababa that said her agency would recommend that aviation authorities verify that Boeing has "adequately addressed" flight control issues "before release of the aircraft to operations."

The preliminary report, which has not yet been publicly released, does not come to a finding of probable cause. A final report could take as long as a year to produce. ​

The timeline of the flight, detailed in the preliminary report, reveals that the pilots' struggle to control the plane began moments after it left the ground.​

Seventy seconds after takeoff from Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport on March 10, one of the angle of attack sensors on board the aircraft began providing faulty information to the aircraft's systems, indicating an imminent stall to the flight crew.

The stick shaker on the pilot's yoke -- another system intended to warn a pilot of an imminent stall -- began shaking the yoke. Incorrectly sensing a stall, the aircraft's system tried to force the nose down four separate times during the flight, in the end overpowering the flight crew's ability to keep the airplane climbing.

Recognizing a problem with the automatic trim, the pilots followed emergency procedures and turned off the system. Instead, the pilots tried to use the backup manual trim wheel to adjust the trim, but the airplane was traveling too fast and the manual trim wheel would have been physically impossible to operate.

Less than two minutes later, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed, killing 157 passengers and flight crews.

CNN's Robyn Kriel and journalist Kaleyesus Bekele reported from Addis Ababa. CNN's Oren Liebermann wrote from Jerusalem

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/04/world/ethiopian-airlines-crash-preliminary-report-intl/index.html

2019-04-04 17:47:00Z
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Ethiopian Airlines preliminary crash report shows similarities to Lion Air disaster - CNN

Unable to stabilize the 737 Max 8 plane even after following the emergency procedures recommended by Boeing, the pilots tried together to pull the jet's nose up repeatedly during the last moments of the flight, the preliminary report revealed. But the downward force of the aircraft was too great to overcome, as the aircraft's automated systems lowered the nose four times during the flight.

The captain called out "pull up" three times to tell the first officer to raise the nose. Both pilots tried to pull the nose up together to keep the plane flying, but they were unable to regain control.

The problems on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight mirror those encountered on the doomed Lion Air flight 610 -- which operated the same 737 Max 8 model and crashed in October -- in what could be a major blow to Boeing as it struggles to get the aircraft back in service.

The report on the Ethiopian Airlines crash does not specifically name the Max 8's plane's anti-stall system -- called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) -- which is suspected to have contributed to the Lion Air disaster. But its findings make it likely that the MCAS system pushed the plane into a dive fueled by erroneous angle of attack sensor readings.

Boeing is currently working on a change to the system's software. The company acknowledged the similarities between the two crashes in a statement Thursday. "The preliminary report contains flight data recorder information indicating the airplane had an erroneous angle of attack sensor input that activated the MCAS function during the flight, as it had during the Lion Air 610 flight," the statement said.

"To ensure unintended MCAS activation will not occur again, Boeing has developed and is planning to release a software update to MCAS and an associated comprehensive pilot training and supplementary education program for the 737 MAX."

Speaking before the release of the report, Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges suggested that Boeing review "the aircraft flight control system related to the flight controllability."

She told reporters in Addis Ababa that said her agency would recommend that aviation authorities verify that Boeing has "adequately addressed" flight control issues "before release of the aircraft to operations."

The preliminary report, which has not yet been publicly released, does not come to a finding of probable cause. A final report could take as long as a year to produce. ​

The timeline of the flight, detailed in the preliminary report, reveals that the pilots' struggle to control the plane began moments after it left the ground.​

Seventy seconds after takeoff from Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport on March 10, one of the angle of attack sensors on board the aircraft began providing faulty information to the aircraft's systems, indicating an imminent stall to the flight crew.

The stick shaker on the pilot's yoke -- another system intended to warn a pilot of an imminent stall -- began shaking the yoke. Incorrectly sensing a stall, the aircraft's system tried to force the nose down four separate times during the flight, in the end overpowering the flight crew's ability to keep the airplane climbing.

Recognizing a problem with the automatic trim, the pilots followed emergency procedures and turned off the system. Instead, the pilots tried to use the backup manual trim wheel to adjust the trim, but the airplane was traveling too fast and the manual trim wheel would have been physically impossible to operate.

Less than two minutes later, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed, killing 157 passengers and flight crews.

Kaleyesus Bekel contributed reporting from Addis Ababa

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2019-04-04 17:07:00Z
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Ethiopian Airlines preliminary crash report shows similarities to Lion Air disaster - CNN

Unable to stabilize the 737 Max 8 plane even after following the emergency procedures recommended by Boeing, the pilots tried together to pull the jet's nose up repeatedly during the last moments of the flight, the preliminary report revealed. But the downward force of the aircraft was too great to overcome, as the aircraft's automated systems lowered the nose four times during the flight.

The captain called out "pull up" three times to tell the first officer to raise the nose. Both pilots tried to pull the nose up together to keep the plane flying, but they were unable to regain control.

The problems on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight mirror those encountered on the doomed Lion Air flight 610 -- which operated the same 737 Max 8 model and crashed in October -- in what could be a major blow to Boeing as it struggles to get the aircraft back in service.

The report on the Ethiopian Airlines crash does not specifically name the Max 8's plane's anti-stall system -- called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) -- which is suspected to have contributed to the Lion Air disaster. But its findings make it likely that the MCAS system pushed the plane into a dive fueled by erroneous angle of attack sensor readings.

Boeing is currently working on a change to the system's software. The company acknowledged the similarities between the two crashes in a statement Thursday. "The preliminary report contains flight data recorder information indicating the airplane had an erroneous angle of attack sensor input that activated the MCAS function during the flight, as it had during the Lion Air 610 flight," the statement said.

"To ensure unintended MCAS activation will not occur again, Boeing has developed and is planning to release a software update to MCAS and an associated comprehensive pilot training and supplementary education program for the 737 MAX."

Speaking before the release of the report, Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges suggested that Boeing review "the aircraft flight control system related to the flight controllability."

She told reporters in Addis Ababa that said her agency would recommend that aviation authorities verify that Boeing has "adequately addressed" flight control issues "before release of the aircraft to operations."

The preliminary report, which has not yet been publicly released, does not come to a finding of probable cause. A final report could take as long as a year to produce. ​

The timeline of the flight, detailed in the preliminary report, reveals that the pilots' struggle to control the plane began moments after it left the ground.​

Seventy seconds after takeoff from Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport on March 10, one of the angle of attack sensors on board the aircraft began providing faulty information to the aircraft's systems, indicating an imminent stall to the flight crew.

The stick shaker on the pilot's yoke -- another system intended to warn a pilot of an imminent stall -- began shaking the yoke. Incorrectly sensing a stall, the aircraft's system tried to force the nose down four separate times during the flight, in the end overpowering the flight crew's ability to keep the airplane climbing.

Recognizing a problem with the automatic trim, the pilots followed emergency procedures and turned off the system. Instead, the pilots tried to use the backup manual trim wheel to adjust the trim, but the airplane was traveling too fast and the manual trim wheel would have been physically impossible to operate.

Less than two minutes later, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed, killing 157 passengers and flight crews.

Kaleyesus Bekel contributed reporting from Addis Ababa

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2019-04-04 16:33:00Z
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Foreman: Early report shows plane dove at nearly 600 mph - CNN

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1. Foreman: Early report shows plane dove at nearly 600 mph  CNN
2. Damaged sensor on Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max triggered fatal crash: Sources  ABC News
3. Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash findings released  CNN
4. Boeing's 737 Max Isn't Going to Fly Anywhere Soon  Bloomberg
5. Boeing’s 737 Max Defense Just Got More Difficult  Bloomberg
6. View full coverage on Google News

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/04/04/ethiopian-airlines-crash-preliminary-report-foreman-bts-vpx.cnn

2019-04-04 15:55:33Z
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What we learned from Ethiopian aviation officials about Flight 302 - CNN

That's the conclusion of Ethiopian aviation authorities Thursday, as they discussed a highly anticipated preliminary report on the crash investigation, which has yet to be publicly released.

Last month's disaster -- along with another crash of the same type of jet in October killing 189 -- was enough to ground the world's entire service fleet of 737 Maxes and call the aircraft's safety into question.

Here's what we learned from Thursday's news conference:

Software may have played a role in the crash

The automated anti-stall software called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) is under suspicion.

Its function is to keep the 737 Max's nose from pointing up at too much of an angle -- the so-called "angle of attack," referred to in the aviation industry. A dangerously high angle of attack (AOA) would cause a plane to stall and possibly crash.

The Max models are the only planes in the 737 series to use MCAS, and the system is suspected of contributing to the October crash in Indonesia of Lion Air Flight 610.

On Thursday, Ethiopian Transportation Minister Dagmawit Moge said Flight 302 experienced "repetitive uncommanded aircraft nose-down conditions" before it crashed.

The description is similar to what has been reported about the Lion Air crash, although the minister did not refer specifically to that disaster. She also didn't specify what caused the plane to veer downward. 

Without mentioning the word "MCAS," Moges said investigators are recommending that 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.  

Boeing says it is currently developing a new version of MCAS. It's expected to be weeks away from approval by US aviation regulators.

Was there a problem with the sensor?

Regarding the possibility of a faulty sensor feeding bad data to MCAS, a top Ethiopian accident investigator said Thursday they haven't found any damage to the aircraft's sensors that could have contributed to the crash.

"We can confirm that we haven't found any foreign object damage," Amdeye Ayalew, Ethiopian Accident Information Bureau investigation chairman, told reporters, speaking through a translator. The AOA sensor during take off was functioning normally, he said. But after take off it was feeding erroneous data.

Back in October on the day before the Lion Air crash, a faulty AOA sensor was replaced on the same jet that went down, Indonesian authorities said. The plane then made another flight to Jakarta that same day, and the pilots reported further problems.

The improved MCAS system will be fed by data from two AOA sensors on the jet's exterior -- instead of one, Boeing says. The MCAS systems aboard both crashed Max 8s were fed by only one AOA sensor. The idea is to provide an additional layer of redundancy. MCAS improvements will also include a cockpit indicator to alert pilots when something may be wrong with the sensors.

MCAS training didn't appear to help prevent the crash

Ethiopian Airlines said Thursday in a statement that the pilots "followed the Boeing recommended and FAA approved emergency procedures to handle the most difficult emergency situation created on the airplane. ... it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nose diving." The airline statement also failed to specifically mention MCAS by name.

This goes to questions about the amount of training needed to fly the jet safely.

The airline's CEO told CNN's Richard Quest last month that the pilots of Flight 302 used a flight simulator to learn how to fly the Boeing 737 Max. But that simulator didn't replicate MCAS.

CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said pilots transitioning to the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from older 737 models were required only to undertake a short computer-based training program prescribed by Boeing and approved by the FAA.

Max 8 pilots for Southwest Airlines and American Airlines took courses lasting between 56 minutes and three hours.

Following the Lion Air crash, the FAA issued an emergency directive offering guidance on how pilots should disengage autopilot systems when the plane experiences "uncommanded nose down stabilizer trim."

Overall, Ethiopian aviation authorities are making it clear that pilot error does not appear to be an issue in the crash and the pressure is now on Boeing to ensure the 737 Max is safe.

CNN's Richard Quest and Helen Regan contributed to this report.

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2019-04-04 15:52:00Z
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