While investigations into the deadly crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 continue, that country’s Minister of Transport claims that the contents of the 737 Max 8’s black box flight recorder points to ‘clear similarities’ with the earlier crash of an Indonesian Lion Air 737 Max 8 crash last October.

French authorities continue to analyse the flight recording data and American authorities have not yet confirmed the claim, saying that the investigation is still in its early stages. 

The United States (US) became the last major country to ground all Boeing 737 Max aircraft when its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the temporary grounding of all Boeing 737 Max aircraft operated by US airlines or flying in US territory. The grounding will remain in effect, pending further investigation.

It was earlier reported in NASA data that pilots of at least two US flights said that soon after engaging the autopilot on Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, the nose tilted down sharply. In both cases, they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot.

According to news reports, the problem described by the pilots does not appear related to a new automated anti-stall system that was suspected of contributing to the Indonesian Lion Air crash. 

Australia’s ABC reports that Boeing continues to make 737 Max models, despite a global ban on all flights by the aircraft and the two crashes leading to ‘billions being wiped off’ Boeing’s stock market value. It reported that Boeing has around 5,000 737 Max aircraft still on order from carriers around the world. Lion Air and others “have suspended their orders until the model's safety can be guaranteed.” 

Under international rules, said ABC, a preliminary report on the crash must be released within 30 days. The Ethiopian crash occurred on March 10. 

Meanwhile, it was reported in the Boeing home state’s Seattle Times that the FAA "pushed the agency’s safety engineers to delegate safety assessments to Boeing itself". 

This decision led engineers to "understate" the power of the 737 Max 8's automated anti-stall system, known as MCAS (Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System), which pushes the plane down if it detects a sharp vertical climb that could potentially stall the plane.

The FAA says satellite-based tracking data shows that the movements of the Ethiopian Airlines flight were similar to those of October's Lion Air crash. 

The planes in both crashes flew with erratic altitude changes that indicated the pilots struggled to override fatal nose dives triggered by automated controls. 

The FAA said that the 737 Max certification process followed the FAA's standard certification process. The ABC reported that while Boeing has repeatedly expressed confidence in the aircraft's safety, it was now working on a software update with the FAA. 

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