Data recovered from the blackbox of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 that crashed on March 10 has "clear similarities" with October's Lion Air crash, according to officials in Ethiopia.
The flight was only in the air for a few minutes before it crashed, killing all 157 people onboard.
The crash has been linked to a Lion Air crash in October that involved the same aircraft type and claimed the lives of 189 people.
"There were clear similarities between the two crashes so far," Ethiopian transport ministry spokesman Muse Yiheyis told Reuters.
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"The data was successfully recovered. Both the American team and our team validated it. The minister thanked the French government. We will let you know more after three or four days."
United States officials have told Reuters that the Federal Aviation Administration has not yet validated the data.
When investigators, after reviewing black box data, return to Addis Ababa and start conducting interpretive work, the NTSB and FAA will assist in verification and validation of the data, an official said.
In Addis Ababa, a source who has listened to the air traffic control recording of the plane's communications said flight 302 had an unusually high speed after take-off before the captain asked to return to the airport.
The Seattle Times has reported that Boeing's safety analysis of a new flight control system on 737 MAX jets had several crucial flaws.
Last week, Boeing said it would deploy a software upgrade to the 737 MAX 8, a few hours after the FAA said it would mandate "design changes" in the aircraft by April.
Under international rules, a preliminary report on the crash must be released within 30 days.
Reuters/Newshub.
