Debris from the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed near Bishoftu, Ethiopia in March. All 157 people on board were killed. Flight regulators had previously approved Boeing's MCAS anti-stall system without independently testing it. – EPA file pic, August 4, 2019.
EVEN before the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes claimed 346 lives, Boeing flight tests had revealed problems similar to those encountered by pilots on the ill-fated 737 MAX flights. Company officials learned that its MCAS anti-stall system – which is at the centre of both accidents – activated within minutes of take-off, repeatedly pushing the nose of the aircraft down even when the plane was operating in normal conditions at lower speed.
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