Ethiopian Airlines pilots initially used Boeing emergency procedures before crash: WSJ

The pilots of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX jet that crashed last month had initially followed Boeing Co’s emergency procedures but later deviated from them as they tried to regain control of the plane, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.

The crash killed all 157 people on board and led to a global grounding of 737 MAX jets and scrutiny of the certification process for the Boeing plane.

Boeing had issued guidelines to pilots on how to disable an automated anti-stall system after a deadly crash in Indonesia in October, that were followed by an emergency airworthiness directive by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The Journal report, citing unidentified people briefed on the matter, said the pilots had initially shut off the MCAS anti-stall system that was pushing the airplane’s nose down shortly after it took off from Addis Ababa.

The pilots then cranked a manual wheel in an attempt to stabilize the plane, the report said, but they eventually decided to restore power to the usual electric trim on their control yokes, likely because the manual attempt did not achieve the desired results.