What is known after the crash in Indonesia?
It was too soon to tell on Sunday whether the causes of the Ethiopian Airlines crash were the same as or similar to those of the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last year.
But there are some initial similarities: On Sunday, the flight lost contact about six minutes after takeoff. The pilot had been given clearance to return to the airport in Addis Ababa, according to Ethiopian Airlines, which operated the flight. But the plane went down near Bishoftu, about 35 miles southeast of Addis Ababa.
The crash last year also involved a plane that went down minutes after takeoff and after the crew requested permission to return to the airport.
In that case, investigations by the Indonesian and American aviation authorities determined that the Lion Air plane’s abrupt nose dive might have been caused by updated Boeing software that was meant to prevent a stall but that can send the plane into a fatal descent if the altitude and angle information being fed into the computer system is incorrect.
The change in the flight control system, which can override manual motions in the Max model, was not explained to pilots, according to some pilots’ unions.
After that crash, Boeing said that it was continuing “to evaluate the need for software or other changes as we learn more from the ongoing investigation.” It was unclear if the company had made any changes.
In a statement on Sunday, Boeing said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
“A Boeing technical team is prepared to provide technical assistance at the request and under the direction of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board,” the company said.
