BA Boeing Co

By Gabriele Steinhauser and Robert Wall 

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Data retrieved from the black boxes of a crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane showed similarities to that from the Lion Air flight that plunged into the Java Sea in October, Ethiopia's transport minister said Sunday, adding to the pressure on aircraft maker Boeing Co.

"Clear similarities were noted between Ethiopian Air Flight 302 and Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610, which will be the subject of further study during the investigation," Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges said. Both flights were on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Ms. Moges declined to give details of the similarities that had been identified, including whether Boeing's new anti-stalling software that has been associated with the Lion Air flight had been activated. She spoke after French air accident investigations bureau BEA had sent the data from both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder to Ethiopian authorities.

Investigators from both Ethiopia and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board have validated the data, she said, and a preliminary report on the accident will be published within 30 days. Representatives from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and its European counterparts were also present in the downloading of black box data.

U.S. authorities last week grounded the 737 MAX after saying it had found enough similarities between the two crashes to take the rare step of keeping the aircraft out of the air. The move followed similar actions by a number of regulators around the world.

American and Canadian officials cited satellite data showing a similar flight path between the two planes -- both new jets that crashed after just a few minutes.

Boeing has said it believes the plane is safe but agreed with the grounding.

The Ethiopian findings of similarities between the two crashed planes come from an initial analysis of data retrieved from the plane's black boxes. Voice recordings and flight data contained in these devices are typically the most important components in any crash probe. The similarities add a new level of scrutiny on the Boeing jet.

Accident investigators in the probe of the earlier crash, which killed all 189 people aboard the Lion Air flight, have said they are looking the plane's anti-stall system that repeatedly pushed the 737 MAX's nose down. They are also looking at plane maintenance. The airline said the plane was well maintained.

The Lion Air crew battled the airplane for the 11 minutes after takeoff before the plane crashed. The system, based on erroneous sensor inputs, thought the crew was about to stall the plane and repeatedly pushed its nose down, accident investigators said in a preliminary report. The pilots tried to recover but eventually lost control.

In the Ethiopian Airlines crash, the flight data recorder should help investigators determine the exact nature of the problem and what actions the crew took to deal with the situation. The plane crashed into a field outside Addis Ababa Sunday a mere six minutes after taking off from the Ethiopian capital's airport, killing all 158 passengers and crew on board.

Detailed analysis of the data can take months, but preliminary conclusions can be drawn within hours or days.

A particular focus of the review of flight data recorder information is expected to be whether the plane's stall-prevention system activated.

Some data broadcast by the Ethiopian plane and collected by satellite, as well as physical evidence at the crash site, has led authorities to suspect that may have been the case. The plane's pilot also reported flight control problems before all contact was lost.

U.S. officials have said they would keep Boeing's MAX fleet grounded until it can determine from the Ethiopian plane's black boxes what happened.

Tearful memorial services were held at Addis Ababa's main Orthodox cathedral and the Ethiopian Airlines headquarters on Sunday for the Ethiopian crew and passengers who died in the crash. But the caskets on display didn't contain bodies. Ethiopian officials have said that it will take five to six months to identify remains of victims through DNA analysis due to the high speed at which the aircraft collided with the ground.

Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at gabriele.steinhauser@wsj.com and Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 17, 2019 13:58 ET (17:58 GMT)

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