'It's our responsibility to eliminate this risk': Boeing responds to Ethiopian Airlines crash report

The crew of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed six minutes after takeoff last month performed all procedures recommended by Boeing when the plane started to nosedive and they could not save it, according to findings from a preliminary report released Thursday by Ethiopia's government.

The preliminary report wasbased on flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Boeing 737 Max 8.

The Max 8 has been under scrutiny since a Lion Air flight crashed off the coast of Indonesia under similar circumstances in October.

Investigators are looking into the role of a flight-control system known by its acronym, MCAS, which under some circumstances can automatically lower the plane's nose to prevent an aerodynamic stall. The planehas been grounded worldwide pending a software fix that Boeing is rolling out, which still needs approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators.

The Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, killing all 157 on board, including 18 Canadians.

Ethiopian investigators did not specifically mention the MCAS, but recommended that Boeing review "the aircraft flight-control system related to the flight controllability." They also recommended that aviation officials verify that issues have been adequately addressed before allowing the planes to fly again.

Boeing said on Thursday that its new software fix for its anti-stall system will give pilots the authority to always override the system if it's activated by faulty sensor data.

"The history of our industry shows most accidents are caused by a chain of events. This again is the case here, and we know we can break one of those chain links in these two accidents," Boeing chairman-CEODennis Muilenburg said in awritten statement.

"As pilots have told us, erroneous activation of the MCAS function can add to what is already a high workload environment. It's our responsibility to eliminate this risk. We own it and we know how to do it."

CBC News found that theBoeing 737 Max 8 manual only mentions MCAS once:

Boeing 737 Max 8 manual mentions MCAS only once

6 years ago

Duration 4:31

Since the recent crashes of two Boeing 737 Max, pilots say they were kept in the dark about the existence of a key software suspected of being connected to the tragedies. CBC News has obtained a copy of the 737 MAX flight crew manual - and whats not in it raises troubling questions about the manufacturers lack of disclosure.

Investigators could notyet say whether there is a structural problem with the plane, Reuters reported. "We will analyze whether other problems were existing on this aircraft," Amdye Ayalew Fanta, the head of the investigation, told the news conference, adding this would take between six months and a year.

In a statement Thursday, Ethiopian Airlines said its pilots followed Boeing instructions. "Despite their hard work and full compliance with the emergency procedures, it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nosediving," the airline said.

FAA to take 'appropriate action'

Boeing is the focus of investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Transportation Department's inspector general and congressional committees. Investigations are also looking at the role of the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S., which certified the Max in 2017 and declined to ground it after the first deadly crash in October.

The FAA, which must certify the 737 Max is safe before it can go back into the air, said in a statement that the investigation is still in its early stages.

"As we learn more about the accident and findings become available, we will take appropriate action," the agency said.

The statement did not say if the FAA would review the Max's flight-control system, as recommended by Ethiopian investigators, and FAA spokesperson Greg Martin would not comment beyond the statement. Boeing is working on improvements to the MCAS software that would make it less aggressive in pointing the nose down and easier for pilots to disable. The FAA has said it will review the software before allowing the Max to fly again.

But it wasn't clear whether the Ethiopians are seeking just that or a broader update in the Max's flight controls.

What also isn't clear is whether the Ethiopian pilots followed Boeing's recommendations to the letter in dealing with the system repeatedly pointing the nose down.

The pilots initially followed Boeing's emergency steps by disconnecting the MCAS system, but for an unknown reason, they turned the system back on, an official familiar with the crash investigation told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because at the time, Ethiopian investigators had not released their preliminary report. Boeing's procedures instruct pilots to leave the MCAS system disconnected and continue flying manually for the rest of the flight.

You've let us down. You've killed people when you've let us down- Adnaan Stumo, brother of one of the victims

Ethiopian investigators did not address that issue at a news conference to release the preliminary report, saying only that the pilots had done what they were supposed to.

"The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft," said Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges.

However, Moges told the New York Times after the news conference that the pilots turned MCAS on and off, but she couldn't say how many times. That will be addressed in the final report, she said.

Lawsuits

Boeing is facing several lawsuits, including seven filed in Chicago earlier by one law firm alone, claiming the flight-control system was defective and that Boeing failed to warn airlines about it or fully train pilots.

The family of a 24-year-old American passenger on the Ethiopian jet has sued Boeing in Chicago. The complaint, which also names Ethiopian Airlines and parts maker Rosemount Aerospace as defendants, is alleging negligence and civil conspiracy, among other charges.

"Blinded by its greed, Boeing haphazardly rushed the 737 Max8 to market" and "actively concealed the nature of the automated system defects," the lawsuit alleges, demonstrating a "conscious disregard for the lives of others."

"You've let us down. You've killed people when you've let us down," said Adnaan Stumo, the victim's brother, addressing Boeing during a newsconference in Chicago.

Report links two 737 Max crashes, analyst says

David Hasse, an aviation analyst and editor of industry publication airliners.de in Berlin, says it is significant that the report found that the pilots followed the proper procedures, because that links the case more closely to the Lion Air crash.

"What is special about this case is that two crashes seem to have a very, very similar reason. This is something that is very rare in aviation. The question is whether the Boeing 737 Max should have been grounded after the Lion Air crash and before the Ethiopian Airlines crash," said Hasse.

He noted that crash reports are not meant to assign legal blameand that it is too soon to know what the legal implications might be for Boeing, but it clearly increases the pressure on the company.

"If pilots sit there and follow the rules that have been given to them by the manufacturer, then they should be able to rely on the fact that they are correct," Hasse said.