Doomed pilots followed Boeing’s emergency steps but still couldn’t control plane

The Boeing flight nosedived, killing everyone on board in an incident that rocked the aviation world. Now a chilling new detail has been revealed.

Pilots of the Boeing 737 MAX plane that crashed in Ethiopia last month initially followed the jet-maker’s emergency instructions but still could not regain control of the plane, it has been revealed.

A flight control system on the MAX aircraft, called MCAS, has been a focus of investigators as they work to determine what caused the Ethiopian Airlines plane to crash within minutes of takeoff, killing all 157 people on board.

The Wall Street Journal reported pilots on the doomed plane took the recommended action of turning off the flight control system after a sudden downturn of the nose of the plane, according to black boxes recovered from the crash site.

But when they still couldn’t get the plane to climb, they turned a manual wheel to adjust the plane’s tail and used electric switches in an effort to climb.

A published report says pilots of the Ethiopian plane followed Boeing’s emergency steps for dealing with a sudden nose-down turn but couldn’t regain control. Picture: AP/Ted S. Warren, File

That reactivated MCAS, which continued to push the plane’s nose lower until the plane crashed.

The Wall Street Journal cited sources familiar with the preliminary findings of the March 10 crash investigation. Ethiopian authorities were expected to deliver their preliminary report today.

Boeing has released a statement urging against speculation until the report and flight data are released.

The crash site near Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Picture: AP/Mulugeta Ayene, File

“We urge caution against speculating and drawing conclusions on the findings prior to the release of the flight data and the preliminary report,” a Boeing spokesman told the Journal.

The Journal said the actions of the pilots were still being investigated but could raise questions about instructions to turn off the MCAS, an anti-stall system on the MAX aircraft that under some circumstances could cause the plane’s nose to pitch down to prevent aerodynamic stall.

Boeing’s MAX aircraft are under scrutiny. Picture: AP/Ted S. Warren, File

Boeing and US regulators said pilots could regain control of planes by simply turning off the feature after it was believed to have played a role in the fatal crash of another Boeing MAX flown by Indonesian airline Lion Air in October.

Boeing is the focus of investigations by the US Justice Department, the Transportation Department’s inspector general, and congressional committees.

Investigations are also looking at the role of the Federal Aviation Administration, which certified the MAX in 2017 and declined to ground it after the first deadly crash in October.