Boeing promises to take 'any and all' steps necessary to make the MAX 8 safe

Harriet Alexander
Investigators inspect the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines plane, which went down on March 10 - AFP
Investigators inspect the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines plane, which went down on March 10 - AFP

Boeing has said it will take “any and all” measures necessary to make their planes safe, after Ethiopian investigators concluded their report into last month's crash that killed 157 and caused the grounding of all Boeing 737 MAX 8s

The family of an American woman killed in the March 10 crash on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Boeing – the first of many expected from US victims.

The parents of Samya Stumo, who was on a work trip when the plane crashed, killing all 157 on board, accused Boeing of putting "profits over safety". Their suit also targets parts manufacturer Rosemount.

On Friday Ethiopian investigators are due to publish their full preliminary report, which is expected to show that the doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight repeatedly nosedived as the pilots battled to control the nearly full aircraft before it crashed, killing everyone on board.

Five months earlier a Lion Air jet crash in Indonesia under similar circumstances, killing 189 people.

Lion Air
Lion Air's Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane is parked on the tarmac of Soekarno Hatta International airport near Jakarta. A similar plane crashed in October, killing all on board

In a statement following Ethiopia's preliminary report, Boeing said flight data recorder information indicates the airplane had an erroneous angle of attack sensor input that activated a system known as MCAS, similar to the Lion Air incident.

The Boeing 737 MAX hit an airspeed as high as 500 knots (575 miles per hour), well above its operational limits, before cockpit data recordings stopped.

"The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft," said Dagmawit Moges, Ethiopia’s transport minister.

Chicago-based Boeing, which is also the target of lawsuits over the October 29 Indonesia crash, has been working on a software fix and new training guidelines for the plane.

Kevin McAllister, CEO of Boeing, said on Thursday: "We thank Ethiopia's accident investigation bureau for its hard work and continuing efforts.

“Understanding the circumstances that contributed to this accident is critical to ensuring safe flight.

“We will carefully review the AIB's preliminary report, and will take any and all additional steps necessary to enhance the safety of our aircraft.”