A Boeing 737 MAX crash that killed 156 people was caused, at least in part, by the company refusing to pass on safety information to its operator, aviation experts have revealed.
The 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash killed all passengers on board when the MAX 8 nose-dived into a field just south of the capital, Addis Ababa, and came just months after another plane in Indonesia had crashed almost identically.
Now experts say that Boeing’s refusal to provide Ethiopian Airlines pilots with the same safety information shared with U.S. airlines “most likely” contributed to crash. Boeing initially suggested that the Ethiopian crash was due to pilot error–making the finding the latest blow to its battered reputation.
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Prior to the fatal accident, Ethiopian Airlines’ chief pilot had asked the airplane manufacturer about emergency protocols to follow after an 737 MAX flying for Indonesian provider Lion Air plunged into the ocean due to an issue with the plane’s flight control system.
Boeing declined to answer the Ethiopian Airlines pilot’s queries, aside from pointing him to a public document published after the Indonesian flight’s catastrophic accident, despite providing detailed briefings to pilots in the U.S. asking the same questions.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was the second to crash in quick succession. But when the chief pilot of Ethiopian Airlines had asked Boeing for a safety briefing after the first one, which happened to Indonesian carrier Lion Air, he was rebuffed.
Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
A total of 156 people died in the FET Flight 302 crash. Many received a funeral in the country’s capital’s Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Tiksa Negeri/Reuters“Who knows what they would have done with the information, but not having it seals the deal,” said Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, told The New York Times. “Any information given to the Ethiopian pilots, like we had, could have made the difference between life and death.”
A report from the Ethiopian government in 2022 similarly found that if Boeing had provided more information to the pilots about how to respond in the event of a flight control software error, they might have been able to regain control of the 737 MAX.
The messages between Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing are now part of an effort by the families of those killed to block a 2021 plea deal, connected to a DOJ investigation into Boeing’s role in both fatal crashes, that required the company to pay more than $2.5 billion.
