Information Gleaned From Cockpit Voice Recorder Recovered From The Ocean

The pilots of Lion Air Flight 610 reportedly ran through three checklists trying to solve the problem with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System MCAS prior to the airplane impacting the ocean, resulting in the fatal injury of all 189 people on board.

Reuters reports that multiple sources speaking on the condition of anonymity said that data collected from the Flight Data Recorder revealed that the first officer initially reported a "flight control problem" to air traffic control just two minutes into the flight. The captain, who was flying the airplane, asked the first officer to check the manual which contains checklists for abnormal events, according to one source.

Another source said that the crew did not seem to understand that the airplane was automatically trimming down as the captain attempted to climb. They only talked about altitude and airspeed, according to the anonymous source.

Two of the sources said that the captain continued to search for the correct procedure to remedy the problem as the flight continued, but was unable to maintain control of the plane.

Reuters reports that, according to the French accident investigation agency BEA, there are "clear similarities" between the Ethiopian accident earlier this month and the Indonesian accident last year. The Boeing 737 MAX airplanes remain grounded while the investigations continue.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report