Boeing Black Box Finding Is Revealed

Minister says there's 'a clear similarity' to the Indonesia crash
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 17, 2019 2:09 PM CDT
Boeing Black Box Shows 'a Clear Similarity'
Relatives grieve next to empty caskets draped with the national flag at a mass funeral at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 17, 2019.   (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

Preliminary data retrieved from the flight data recorder of the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed shows "a clear similarity" with an earlier disaster in Indonesia, Ethiopia's transport minister said Sunday. Dagmawit Moges told reporters that the Ethiopian government intends to release detailed findings within one month, the AP reports. "The black box has been found in a good condition that enabled us to extract almost all the data inside," she told reporters Sunday evening. Officials say 157 people from 35 different countries were killed when the Nairobi-bound plane crashed shortly after takeoff. The United States and many other countries then grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 as it had also been used in the Lion Air crash in October in Indonesia.

Suspicions emerged that faulty sensors and software may have contributed to the two crashes in less than six months. The US Federal Aviation Administration already has said satellite-based tracking data showed that the movements of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 were similar to those of Lion Air Flight 610, which crashed off Indonesia in October, killing 189 people. The planes in both crashes flew with erratic altitude changes that could indicate the pilots struggled to control the aircraft. Shortly after their takeoffs, both crews tried to return to the airports but crashed. Earlier Sunday, thousands in the capital of Addis Ababa mourned the country's victims in the crash, accompanying 17 empty caskets draped in the national flag through the streets of the capital. Some victims' relatives fainted and fell to the ground.

(More Boeing 737 stories.)

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