SINGAPORE/ADDIS ABABA: The pilots of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX jet that crashed last month had initially followed Boeing Co’s emergency procedures but they still failed to regain control of the plane, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The crash killed all 157 people on board and led to a global grounding of 737 MAX jets.
Boeing had issued guidelines to pilots about shutting off an automated anti-stall system in the wake of a deadly crash in Indonesia less than five months earlier.
The Wall Street Journal report, citing unidentified people briefed on the matter, said the pilots had initially shut off the anti-stall system called MCAS 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 didn’t achieve the desired results.
Returning the electric power reactivated MCAS and allowed it to continue its strong downward commands, the newspaper said.
A preliminary report into the crash has not yet been released by Ethiopian investigators.
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Transport spokesman Musie Yehyies said there were no plans to publish the report on Wednesday. The report is expected within 30 days of the March 10 disaster under international rules governing crash investigations.
Boeing did not respond to a request for comment outside regular US working hours.
The planemaker said on Monday it planned to submit a proposed software enhancement package to MCAS in the “coming weeks,” having previously said it would deliver the fix for US approval by last week.
Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed Boeing’s emergency procedures before crash: report
Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed Boeing’s emergency procedures before crash: report
- The crash killed all 157 people on board and led to a global grounding of 737 MAX jets
- A preliminary report into the crash has not yet been released by Ethiopian investigators
Trump vows ‘turnaround for the ages’ in State of the Union
- “As president, I will make peace wherever I can — but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must”
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday of a “turnaround for the ages” in a State of the Union speech, seeking to reverse his dismal polls and see off mounting challenges at home and abroad ahead of crucial midterm elections.
Arriving to address a joint session of Congress, Trump was welcomed with cheers and a standing ovation from Republicans — while Democrats remained seated in protest.
“My fellow Americans, our nation is back bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” Trump said.
The 79-year-old hoped the primetime stage will help him to sell voters on the achievements of a breakneck and deeply divisive first year back in power.
Trump is deep underwater in opinion polls and Republicans fear they could lose their tiny majority in the House to the Democrats — paralyzing the rest of Trump’s second term and exposing him to a possible third impeachment.
The Republican however struck a defiant tone in the first official State of the Union of his second term.
“Tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,” Trump said.
And he sought to seize on national enthusiasm over Team USA’s gold medal winning Olympic ice hockey performance, inviting the players to join him on the floor of the Chamber to massive cheers and chants of “USA.”
He then announced he was awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor — to the team’s goalie.
The New York Times said at least 40 Democrats were set to skip the speech.
‘Confront threats to America’
As US naval and air forces massed around Iran, Trump struck a tough posture.
There was intense scrutiny over whether Trump would use the speech to announce his next moves in Iran, where he has threatened to use force to crush the country’s nuclear ambitions.
“As president, I will make peace wherever I can — but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump was to say, according to the excerpts.
He also boasted that Venezuela, where US forces toppled longtime strongman Nicolas Maduro in January, was now shipping oil to the United States.
Long speech
Speculation mounted that the speech could be as long as three hours — far outstripping the hour and 40 minutes that Trump gave in the longest ever speech to lawmakers last year.
The annual speech to Congress is a rare chance to appear on all the major television networks simultaneously — and Trump is hoping to take advantage to shift the country’s mood ahead of November’s Midterms.
Trump has been battered by a series of blows in the second year of his second term, most recently with the Supreme Court’s striking down of his trade tariffs policy.
Trump, who earlier branded the court’s justices “fools and lapdogs” over the tariff ruling, briefly shook hands with several of the justices in attendance but went on in his speech to declare their ruling “very unfortunate.”
The billionaire has also been rocked by a backlash by the killing of two US citizens in immigration raids in Minneapolis, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, and a new partial government shutdown.
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll published on Sunday showed his approval rating at 39 percent. Only 41 percent approved of his handling of the economy overall, and just 32 percent on inflation.
Hockey players, Epstein victims
Adding to the interest were guests that both Republicans and Democrats brought to watch the address from the gallery, part of a long tradition.
In addition to inviting the men’s ice hockey team, Trump announced that the women’s team — which also won gold at the Olympics — would be coming to the White House.
This came after the team said it would not attend the State of the Union amid controversy over Trump’s public joke to the men’s team about having to bring the women too.
Two Democratic members of the House of Representatives said they were bringing as guests the family members of a victim of Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking ring.
