Findings will be closely scrutinised by aerospace group, families and regulators
Financial Times || A preliminary report into the deadly crash of a Boeing aircraft in Ethiopia last month will be released on Monday, a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry said.
The findings of the preliminary investigation will be the first step in establishing the official cause of the tragedy which killed all 157 people on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight and has grounded Boeing’s fleet of 737 Max aircraft worldwide.
“The Ministry of Transport will give a briefing on the preliminary report today,” Nebiat Getachew, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said on Monday. Mr Nebiat did not confirm what time the briefing will be held. The Ministry of Transport, which could not immediately be reached, is yet to provide further information.
Boeing, its customers including Ethiopian Airlines, and the families of the victims around the world will be watching to see whether investigators confirm that a flawed anti-stall – or MCAS – system was a factor in the crash. A similar flaw in the 737 Max’s MCAS system appears to have contributed to the crash of a Lion Air flight in Indonesia in October.
The twin crashes have provoked an unprecedented crisis of confidence in Boeing and in the procedures used by the US Federal Aviation Administration to certify aircraft as safe to fly.
US House and Senate committees are holding hearings to probe whether the FAA collaborated too closely with Boeing in certifying the 737 Max, while the US justice department is investigating whether Boeing gave the FAA incomplete or misleading information related to the aircraft
