New evidence found linking deadly Boeing crashes

Yet more evidence has been found linking the doomed Ethiopian airlines, and Lion Air crashes, both of which occurred on the new Boeing 737 Max 8.

Two separate sources have indicated that investigators have found a piece of a stabilizer in the wreckage of an Ethiopian jet with the trim set in an unusual position similar to that of a Lion Air plane that crashed last year.

It is the second piece of information suggesting similarities between the two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 jets.

The part, known as the jackscrew, is used to set the trim that raises and lowers the plane’s nose, indicates the jet was configured to dive, according to John Cox, a former pilot and an airline-safety consultant with the Washington-based aviation-safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems.

In the case of the Lion Air crash in Indonesia, faulty information from the angle-of-attack sensor convinced the automated system that the plane was going to stall and pushed its nose down while the pilots wrestled to pull the aircraft up. The result was an erratic flight path in which the plane descended and ascended repeatedly before plunging into the Java Sea, killing all 189 passengers and crew aboard.

“All we can say definitely is that the trim was in a position similar to the position found on the Lion Air aeroplane and it would cause the nose to go down,” he said. “This will be consistent with a nose-down flight path, which they think is likely with the Ethiopian aeroplane.

“It points to one central link,” Cox said. “We need the data from the flight data recorders. We need it as quickly as possible … The faster that we get that information, it will let everyone know what needs to be done.”

The first piece of evidence found linking the flights was the satellite data that showed both had flown in an erratic up and down movement prior to crashing.

After reviewing the data “it became clear — to all parties, actually — that the track of the Ethiopian Airlines flight was very close and behaved very similarly to the Lion Air flight,” agency Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell said Wednesday.

Preliminary flight data showed the Ethiopian Airlines plane in trouble almost immediately and struggling to gain altitude in the high thin air above the Addis Ababa airport. The plane descended and then sharply ascended while moving at speeds far in excess of normal.

Within minutes the pilot radioed the control tower reporting “flight control” problems and was given clearance to return.

In a description of the exchange reported by the New York Times, Capt. Yared Getachew sounded panicked as he requested permission to return to the airport, shortly before losing contact.

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