The crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed 157 people had “clear similarities” with October’s Lion Air crash, Ethiopia said on Sunday, shown by initial analysis of the black boxes recovered from the wreckage of the March 10 disaster.
Both planes were MAX 8s, and both crashed minutes post take-off after pilots reported flight control problems. Concern over the plane’s safety led aviation authorities to ground the model, wiping billions of dollars off Boeing’s market value.
“It was the same case with the Indonesian Lion Air one. There were clear similarities between the two crashes so far. The data was successfully recovered. Both the American team and our Ethiopian team validated it,” Ethiopian transport ministry spokesman Muse Yiheyis said, adding that the ministry would provide more information after three or four days.