Faults in the design and certification of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max airplane contributed to last year’s fatal Lion Air crash, according to an Indonesian investigation, which highlighted shortcomings in a flight-control feature also blamed for an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March.
Investigators listed 89 significant findings in connection with the disaster, according to an extract from the final crash report distributed to stakeholders and seen by Bloomberg News. Among them: Boeing failed to submit required documentation on the aircraft’s design, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration didn’t provide sufficient oversight and the actions of Lion Air air crew were inadequate.
National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Nurcahyo Utomo declined to comment on the final report, which is scheduled to be publicly released later Friday.
Minutes after taking off on the morning of Oct. 29, Lion Air Flight 610 nosedived into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people on board.
The 737 Max has been grounded worldwide since shortly after the subsequent crash in Ethiopia, costing Boeing US$9.2 billion and weighing on the company’s outlook. Indonesia’s findings come as regulators worldwide assess the fate of what was the Chicago-based company’s best-selling plane. Boeing says it is has made “significant progress” in returning the 737 Max to service.
Advertisement