Officials say there are now "clear similarities" between this month's Ethiopian Airlines crash and the one last October in Indonesia involving the same type of plane – the Boeing 737 MAX 8. Both the Ethiopian Airlines plane and a Lion Air flight out of Indonesia last October went down shortly after takeoff. More than 300 people died between the two crashes.
Ethiopia's transportation minister says that determination was made from preliminary information from the black boxes of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX. And in response to the newest information, Boeing says they’re putting the final touches on a software upgrade, which is meant to target the aircraft's flight control system. It’s expected to be released in the next week or so.
But that’s not all. Boeing is reportedly rejiggering their training for the aircraft as well. According to reports, pilots flying the now-grounded 737 MAX 8 only had about an hour of training on an iPad before taking to the air. No simulators, just the iPad – and according to the company, that wasn’t a problem with the FAA certification either.
Notations about the FAA certification process are worth noting as well – as the “Seattle Times” says engineers involved in evaluations of the plane knew there were flaws in the original report used to certify the model before it was approved to fly. The investigation continues.
Source:ABC News