Faulty sensors suspected in Boeing 737 Max crash: report

Data collected from an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed earlier this month suggests the tragedy was caused by a faulty sensor that mistakenly triggered one of the Boeing 737 Max 8’s automated systems, The New York Times reported Friday.

Three people briefed on the contents of the flight’s black box told the newspaper that data from the plane’s angle-of-attack sensor activated a computer-controlled system that led to the nose-dive that killed all 157 people on board. The cause of the crash is similar to the suspected source of another crash in Indonesia involving the same jet.

{mosads}Investigations into both accidents are ongoing, though Boeing has faced rising scrutiny over the high-profile crashes and its role in approving the 737 Max aircraft.

The Justice Department is currently investigating the plane’s development, while the Transportation Department’s inspector general is examining the certification process.

A person familiar with the Transportation Department’s investigation told the Times that a subpoena has already been issued to at least one Boeing engineer for documents related to the jet in question. 

The computer-controlled system that was activated in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, known as MCAS, measures the level of the nose of a plane compared to oncoming air. Though it is often reliable, one former engineer told the Times it is surprising that MCAS alone had the power to angle the jet toward the ground. 

Boeing earlier this week announced a software update that would put the onus for tilting the plane’s nose on two pieces of software instead of just the MCAS. 

The sensors have malfunctioned in the past for an array of reasons, including bird strikes or water that becomes frozen at high altitudes.