'Pitch up, pitch up': The final moments of Ethiopia Airlines plane crash
The Boeing 737 MAX anti-stalling technology has been linked to two deadly plane crashes, according to investigators.
Sunday 31 March 2019 07:07, UK
A pilot on the doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight was heard saying "pitch up, pitch up!" moments before the jet crashed, killing all 157 people on board.聽
New details have emerged of the final moments of the Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight, which crashed just six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa airport.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the plane's nose began to pitch down as the jet reached 450ft (137m) above ground.
The newspaper cited sources close to the crash investigation, as well as airline executives and pilots.
It said pilot Ahmed Nur Mohammed radioed the control tower to report a "flight-control problem" and wrestled to level the plane's flight path.
One of the pilots said "pitch up, pitch up!" as the jet hurtled towards the ground, shortly before it crashed into a field 30 miles from the runway.
There are fears that anti-stalling technology played a role in the crash.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that officials had reached a "preliminary conclusion" that the automated flight-control system had misfired in the Ethiopian Airlines flight on 10 March.
Investigators said this was based on data from the flight's black box, which was recovered from the crash site.
The plane's automated MCAS system has also been noted as a potential cause of the Lion Air crash five months earlier.
Lion Air Flight 610, also a Boeing 737 MAX 8, came down over the Java Sea off Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.
In that crash, the anti-stalling system, based on incorrect sensor information, had repeatedly pushed the plane's nose down and caused the flight to lose control.
Ethiopia's transport minister previously said there was a "clear similarity" between the two crashes, citing preliminary data retrieved from the Ethiopian Airlines plane.
US federal agencies, including the justice department, are investigating whether Boeing provided misleading or incomplete information about the 737 MAX to make sure the aircraft was certified to fly.
The company is also under pressure to roll out a software update on its 737 MAX planes in time for the peak summer travel season.
The update will disable the anti-stalling software if its sensors receive conflicting data, ensuring the MCAS will not make repeated corrections when a pilot tries to take control.
All 737 MAX planes are currently grounded worldwide.