Kamis, 04 April 2019

Russia in Venezuela: Why Vladimir Putin has sent troops to back up Nicolas Maduro as the Trump administration backs Juan Guaido - CBS News

Moscow -- Venezuela is not going to become "another Syria" for Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a state-backed Russian newspaper in an interview published this week. "We have nothing to hide," he said in response to a question about what Russian troops are doing in the once wealthy South American nation.

Two military planes carrying about 100 Russian personnel arrived in Caracas last week. The influx, which U.S. officials have told CBS News was unusual for its size, has fuelled tensions between Russia and the U.S. that were sparked earlier this year as the two countries picked opposing sides in Venezuela's debilitating political crisis. 

The U.S., along with dozens of other countries, has thrown its support behind Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. The former leader of the National Assembly has declared himself the country's interim president and labelled President Nicolas Maduro a "usurper" following a re-election widely deemed undemocratic. Moscow, however, insists Maduro is still the country's legitimate leader.

According to U.S. officials, the two planeloads of Russian troops were sent to Caracas to support Maduro. The Kremlin claims, however, that they were sent to do maintenance work on military equipment Russia supplied to Venezuela several years ago. 

Russia Venezuela
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Russian President Vladimir Putin greet each other outside the Novo-Ogaryovo residence in Moscow, Russia, in a Dec. 5, 2018 file photo. AP

The conversation heated up as President Donald Trump told Russia "to get out," and Russia's Foreign Ministry shot back that the U.S. should get out of Syria first. Russia and the U.S. similarly backed different sides in Syria's civil war, and Russian President Vladimir Putin coming to the rescue has arguably kept dictator Bashar Assad comfortably in power.

On Thursday, Venezuela's deputy foreign minister would not rule out the possibility that more Russian military personnel could arrive in his country, under what he said were existing agreements between the two nations.

Russia does have assets in Venezuela and close ties with the Maduro regime, but defense and foreign affairs analysts see the recent developments much more as a power play by the Kremlin, aimed more at goading the U.S.  than defending the Venezuelan leader.

"Harsh confrontation with Washington over Venezuela, according to the Kremlin's logic, boosts Russia's significance in the eyes of the U.S.," foreign affairs analyst Vladimir Frolov told CBS News. "It's political theater, and theater needs proper decorations."  

One-way street

Venezuela has been Russia's biggest partner in Latin America since the early 2000s, Tatyana Rusakova, Latin America analyst at the Moscow-based Center for Crisis Society Studies, told CBS News. She said those ties have been largely "a one-way street, and are based on political agenda."

Russia owns two lucrative gas fields just off the Venezuelan coast, through the state-backed oil giant Rosneft.

Moscow has also earned $11.4 billion selling military equipment to Caracas, and currently exports about $70-$80 million per year worth of non-military goods to the country. 

All that said, trade with Venezuela accounts for only about 0.01 percent of Russia's foreign trade turnover.

The Kremlin loaned at least $2 billion to Caracas to enable Venezuela to buy the Russian military equipment, and Venezuela still owes Russia $6 billion of a total $17 billion worth of loans handed out since 2006, according a recent Financial Times report

Venezuelans desperate amid blackout, supply shortage

Given those circumstances, Rusakova said she "wouldn't say that, in terms of trade and economy," Venezuela is a significant Russian partner.   

Military cooperation

While Venezuela doesn't account for much overall trade with Russia, 2006 and 2013 Caracas was among the four biggest purchasers of Russian military hardware, and cooperation on that front continues.

Two Russian factories -- one that will make Kalashnikov assault rifles and another that will make ammunition for them -- are currently under construction in Venezuela, according to Konstantin Makienko, deputy director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow-based defense think-tank.

Makienko, who is also a member of the defense expert council in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, told CBS News in written comments that Moscow also continues to supply parts for equipment sold to Venezuela previously, and carry out vital maintenance work to keep that equipment operational.

That second aspect of the bilateral military cooperation has intensified recently, Makienko noted. 

The Russian military also gives Venezuela's military guidance and advice.

"The group of Russian military personnel that arrived (last week) are consulting Venezuelan troops on (military action) in case the U.S. or anyone else carries out a military intervention," Makienko said. 

But another analyst says these consultations are likely to be the extent of Russia's military involvement -- there is no incentive for the Russian military to go on the offensive for Maduro, or fight on his behalf.

"Venezuela isn't Russia's military ally, like, say, Belarus or Kazakhstan," Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told CBS News.

So what's the endgame?

Moscow sees the crisis in Venezuela as another opportunity -- just as Syria was -- to portray itself as a force to be reckoned with -- a force capable of keeping U.S. power in check, according to analyst Frolov.

"The strategy to confront the U.S., wherever it can be done at a reasonable cost, is grounded in the Kremlin's idea of a new world in which the U.S. doesn't have the freedom to overthrow regimes anymore, because Russia is there to stop it," he said. 

Venezuela fits the profile perfectly, because undermining Washington's agenda there doesn't require too many resources and offers a chance to retaliate for the 2014 revolution in Ukraine, which brought a U.S.-aligned government to power. The Kremlin believes the revolution was masterminded and orchestrated by the U.S. 

"The logic is… that we can also make your life harder in your backyard, just like you did in ours," Frolov said. 

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-in-venezuela-why-vladimir-putin-troops-back-nicolas-maduro-vs-donald-trump-us/

2019-04-04 13:10:00Z
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Initial report says damaged sensor may have doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight - New York Post

A sensor damaged by a bird or debris may have led to the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8, killing all 157 aboard, as a preliminary report released Thursday found that the crew followed proper procedures but were unable to regain control of the doomed plane.

“The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer, but was not able to control the aircraft,” Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges said, citing findings based on the voice and flight data recorders.

In the first official report on the March 10 disaster, Moges called for the MAX 8’s controversial flight control system to be reviewed by Boeing.

“Aviation authorities shall verify that the review of the aircraft flight control system has been adequately addressed by the manufacturer before the release of the aircraft for operations,” she added.

The preliminary findings show the aircraft had a valid certificate of airworthiness, the pilots were licensed and qualified to fly the plane, and its takeoff appeared to be “very normal,” Moges told reporters at a press conference in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Flight 302 went down in clear weather, six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport en route to Nairobi, Kenya.

Investigators are looking into the role of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, a flight control system known by its acronym, MCAS, which under some situations can automatically lower the plane’s nose to prevent a stall.

The MAX has been grounded worldwide pending a software fix that Boeing is rolling out and that needs approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators.

Ethiopian investigators did not specifically mention the MCAS on Thursday.

Meanwhile, two aviation sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News that the doomed flight sustained a damaged angle-of-attack sensor upon takeoff from a bird or foreign object, triggering erroneous data and the activation of the anti-stall system.

According to the sources, the crew did not try to electronically pull the nose up before following Boeing’s emergency procedures of cutting power to the horizontal stabilizer on the rear of the plane.

One source told the network they manually tried to raise the nose back up by using the trim wheel. Soon after, the pilots restored power to the horizontal stabilizer.

With the power restored, the MCAS was re-engaged, the sources said, and the pilots failed to regain control before the crash.

But the preliminary findings dispute that there was any foreign object damage, or FOD, to the aircraft.

“We did not find any information regarding the FOD (foreign object damage) on the aircraft,” Amdye Andualem, chairman of the Ethiopian Accident Investigation Bureau, said Thursday. “The data provided by the FDR (flight data recorder) doesn’t indicate that there is an FOD.”

With Post wires

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https://nypost.com/2019/04/04/initial-report-says-damaged-sensor-may-have-doomed-ethiopian-airlines-flight/

2019-04-04 12:04:00Z
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Britain facing long Brexit delay as stalemate puts divorce in doubt - Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could ask the European Union for a long Brexit delay next week if crisis talks between Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and the opposition Labour Party fail to find a way out of the impasse over the divorce from the European Union.

Brexit is now in mired in doubt, nearly three years since the United Kingdom shocked the world by voting 52 percent to 48 to leave the bloc. Supporters fear betrayal and opponents are pushing for another referendum.

May, who has already delayed Brexit once, is now trying to find a way to get a divorce deal approved by courting opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn who wants to agree a much closer post-Brexit economic relationship with the EU.

“The important thing now is that in any extension that we get from the EU, we have an absolute clarity that as soon as we’ve done the deal, we are able to bring that extension to an end,” finance minister Philip Hammond told ITV.

When asked if he was comfortable about a long extension, he said he was not comfortable about it, but that the defeat of May’s deal on Friday, the very day that Britain was due to have left the EU, meant “we are where we are.”

Corbyn, a veteran socialist campaigner whom May has repeatedly derided as unfit for office, said on Wednesday that she had not moved far enough in talks which continued, at a lower level, on Thursday.

Labour’s Brexit point man, Keir Starmer, and Corbyn’s strategy chief, Seumas Milne, were seen entering the Cabinet Office with May’s Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay on Thursday. May’s de-facto deputy, David Lidington, will also attend.

The aim, May’s spokesman said, was to have intensive discussions. A further meeting between May and Corbyn will happen when there is a reason for one, her spokesman said.

Hammond said that if talks failed, the government would present some ideas from the discussions to parliament. Lawmakers may have to sacrifice some of their Easter holidays, the government said.

The Brexit vote exposed deep fractures in British society, though the crisis it triggered has also shown a political system in dire need of reform. It is unclear how, when or if Britain will leave the EU.

BREXIT CHAOS

The chaos has raised fears of a disorderly exit that would shock the British economy, roil financial markets and even hurt global trade. The European Central Bank has warned that markets need to price in a no-deal Brexit.

A pro-Brexit protester demonstrates outside the Houses of Parliament, as Brexit wrangles continue, in London, Britain, April 4, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Concern about Brexit is slowing the German economy, leading top economic institutes to slash their forecasts for 2019 growth by more than half on Thursday.

The House of Commons on Wednesday approved legislation which would force May to seek a Brexit delay to prevent a no-deal departure on April 12.

“If passed ... this bill would place a severe constraint on the government’s ability to negotiate an extension,” May’s spokesman said.

After more than two years of tortuous discussions about the minutiae of the separation, EU leaders are weary of London’s failure to agree its own divorce and patience is wearing thin.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in Brussels that Britain would not get any further short delays unless its parliament ratified a deal by April 12 - the date set by EU leaders as the effective cut-off for avoiding the European Parliament elections.

The EU is discussing different options: a delay until the end of the year, next Spring or the end of 2020 though in recent days discussions have focused mostly on a one year delay.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet residents who live along the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland during a visit to Dublin on Thursday to discuss Brexit to learn what impact any return of frontier checks would have on their lives.

Slideshow (18 Images)

Merkel will use her trip to meet Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to consider the border situation and how to prevent a no-deal “hard Brexit”.

UBS Wealth Management said it was unlikely the parliamentary deadlock would be broken in the near term so a long extension to the divorce window, known as Article 50, was likely.

“Failure to secure the passage of the Withdrawal Agreement in the coming days would result in a long extension to Article 50,” UBS said. “This extension will be granted by the EU27, with conditions.”

Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; additional reporting by William Schomberg; Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels and Paul Carrell in Berlin, Editing by William Maclean

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https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu/britain-facing-long-brexit-delay-as-stalemate-puts-divorce-in-doubt-idUSKCN1RF0Y2

2019-04-04 11:58:00Z
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Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed proper procedures before Max 8 crash, ministry rules - Fox News

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 repeatedly nosedived despite the pilots following proper procedures, Ethiopia’s minister of transport said in the initial news briefing for the crash investigation Thursday, according to reports.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 jet crashed March 10 just after takeoff en route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, killing all 157 passengers and crew aboard.

FINAL MOMENTS OF ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES BOEING 737 MAX REVEALED: PILOT RECORDED SAYING 'PITCH UP, PITCH UP'

“The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft,” Dagmawit Moges said at the news conference in Addis Ababa.

The investigation has also found the plane was in good condition and airworthy before the doomed flight.

Based on flight data and cockpit voice recordings, Moges said they cannot yet determine if there is a structural problem with the Max 8.

She said they are recommending that U.S.-based Boeing review the jet’s air flight control system for controllability issues.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES CRASH DATA SHOWS 'CLEAR SIMILARITIES' WITH LION AIR ACCIDENT, TRANSPORT MINISTER SAYS

“Despite their hard work and full compliance with the emergency procedures,” Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement Thursday, “it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nose diving.”

The similarities between the crash and the previous crash of a Lion Air Max 8 plane led to the U.S. joining several other countries in grounding the planes pending further investigation.

An international team of 18 agencies is helping with the investigation. American participants include the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Reuters.

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Moges said she expects the investigation to conclude within a year.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/ethiopian-airlines-pilots-followed-proper-procedures-before-crash-ethiopian-ministry-of-transport

2019-04-04 11:55:48Z
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Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed proper procedures before Max 8 crash, ministry rules - Fox News

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 repeatedly nosedived despite the pilots following proper procedures, Ethiopia’s minister of transport said in the initial news briefing for the crash investigation Thursday, according to reports.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 jet crashed March 10 just after takeoff en route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, killing all 157 passengers and crew aboard.

FINAL MOMENTS OF ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES BOEING 737 MAX REVEALED: PILOT RECORDED SAYING 'PITCH UP, PITCH UP'

“The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft,” Dagmawit Moges said at the news conference in Addis Ababa.

The investigation has also found the plane was in good condition and airworthy before the doomed flight.

Based on flight data and cockpit voice recordings, Moges said they cannot yet determine if there is a structural problem with the Max 8.

She said they are recommending that U.S.-based Boeing review the jet’s air flight control system for controllability issues.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES CRASH DATA SHOWS 'CLEAR SIMILARITIES' WITH LION AIR ACCIDENT, TRANSPORT MINISTER SAYS

“Despite their hard work and full compliance with the emergency procedures,” Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement Thursday, “it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nose diving.”

The similarities between the crash and the previous crash of a Lion Air Max 8 plane led to the U.S. joining several other countries in grounding the planes pending further investigation.

An international team of 18 agencies is helping with the investigation. American participants include the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Reuters.

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Moges said she expects the investigation to conclude within a year.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/ethiopian-airlines-pilots-followed-proper-procedures-before-crash-ethiopian-ministry-of-transport

2019-04-04 11:07:02Z
CBMif2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZveG5ld3MuY29tL3dvcmxkL2V0aGlvcGlhbi1haXJsaW5lcy1waWxvdHMtZm9sbG93ZWQtcHJvcGVyLXByb2NlZHVyZXMtYmVmb3JlLWNyYXNoLWV0aGlvcGlhbi1taW5pc3RyeS1vZi10cmFuc3BvcnTSAYMBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZm94bmV3cy5jb20vd29ybGQvZXRoaW9waWFuLWFpcmxpbmVzLXBpbG90cy1mb2xsb3dlZC1wcm9wZXItcHJvY2VkdXJlcy1iZWZvcmUtY3Jhc2gtZXRoaW9waWFuLW1pbmlzdHJ5LW9mLXRyYW5zcG9ydC5hbXA

Crash report says Ethiopian pilots performed Boeing’s recommendations to stop doomed aircraft from diving - The Washington Post

ADDIS ABABA, Ethi­o­pia — The Ethio­pian Airlines pilots performed all the procedures recommended by Boeing to save their doomed 737 Max 8 aircraft but could not pull it out of a flight-system induced dive, a preliminary report into the crash concluded Thursday.

Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges gave a brief summary and the recommendations of the much anticipated preliminary report into the March 10 crash, in which she singled out the “aircraft flight control system” as contributing to the plane’s difficulty in gaining altitude from Addis Ababa airport before crashing six minutes later and killing all 157 on board.

“Since repetitive uncommanded aircraft nosedown conditions were noticed in this preliminary investigation, it is recommended the aircraft flight control system related to flight controlability be reviewed by the manufacturer,” she said.

She also noted that the crew “performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft.”

Like the crash of an Indonesian Max 8 aircraft in October, attention in the Ethio­pian Airlines crash has been zeroing in on a flight control system known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS, which pushes the nose of the aircraft down to avoid a midair stall.

While she never mentioned the MCAS by name during the news conference despite repeated questions from journalists, Moges’s comments suggest that the system was activated during the flight and the pilots were not able to use Boeing’s recommended methods to disable it.

Investigators believe MCAS also contributed to the Oct. 29 crash in Indonesia, where they say erroneous data from an outside sensor led the system to force the nose of the plane down over and over again. Pilots were unable to regain control and prevent disaster, and the Lion Air flight eventually plunged into the Java Sea, killing 189 people.

After the Indonesia crash, Boeing issued a bulletin outlining how to shut down the MCAS in case of malfunction and Thursday’s preliminary report seems to indicate the pilots’ followed that procedure.

Previous evidence found at the Ethio­pian crash site showed equipment on the 737 Max’s tail was positioned in a way that would push the plane’s nose down. Satellite data also showed the Ethiopian Airlines jetliner had ascended and descended multiple times after takeoff, mirroring the behavior of the plane in the Lion Air flight.

Both flights struggled to gain altitude; and both appeared to have erratic flight paths before crashing.

Amid reports that a foreign object might have damaged one of the Ethio­pian plane’s sensors on take off, Amdeye Ayalew, the head of the investigation, said the information from the data recorders did not indicate that.

“We did not find any information regarding the foreign object damage on the aircraft,” he said.

The officials said a full report would be completed within a year of the crash.

[All eyes are watching as Boeing prepares software update months after Indonesia plane crash]

Ethio­pian Airlines stated immediately following the news conference that the report showed no fault lay with the pilots who “followed the Boeing recommended and FAA-approved emergency procedures.”

“Despite their hard work and full compliance with the emergency procedures, it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nose diving,” the airline stated.

The similarities between the two crashes, five months apart, prompted aviation authorities to ground more than 370 of the jetliners worldwide.

The new investigative report also reveals some differences between the two flights. For example, the Ethiopian aircraft had no mechanical problems before the crash.

“It had flown to Johannesburg and back without any maintenance issues,” said John Cox, a former pilot and an airline-safety consultant who has been privately briefed on the evidence by people familiar with the investigation. “The airplane was mechanically sound, it had no deferrals, no write-ups and that makes a big difference.”

By comparison, the Lion Air had had multiple issues starting Oct. 26, including the four flights before the one that crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, according to the Indonesian preliminary report. The plane’s maintenance log showed pilots reported defects with incorrect display of speeds and altitude and Airline mechanics worked to resolve the problems.

The Max 8 single-aisle aircraft is the most recent iteration of the 737 line — the world’s most popular commercial airliner that first flew in 1967. The Max is the fastest-selling plane in Boeing’s history, with nearly 4,700 planes sold or on order.

Boeing said it is “reviewing the report.”

The new revelations about the ill-fated jetliner come after Boeing, grappling with the fallout of the two deadly crashes, outlined upgrades to the aircraft’s software and increased training for the 737 Max pilots.

Boeing said it will take about an hour for technicians to load a software update for the planes. The company’s software fixes will change the way the MCAS receives information, requiring feeds from both outside “angle of attack” sensors, rather than one, before it is triggered.

The system will also have more limits on how often it will engage and Boeing will make changes that prevent the anti-stall feature from angling the plane’s nose too far downward in its attempts to correct for a possible stall.

On Wednesday Boeing announced that its chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, joined pilots aboard a flight to test the updated MCAS software as part of the certification requirements and “it worked as designed.”

A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Monday that the agency expects to receive the final package of software and training updates for review “over the coming weeks,” reflecting a delay from its initial timeline. Boeing had initially planned to submit the fix for FAA review last week.

Questions surrounding the two crashes have turned a harsh spotlight on Boeing. In the wake of the disasters, lawmakers are raising doubts about the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight, and called for several hearings, including one held Wednesday, where Daniel K. Elwell, acting Federal Aviation Administrator, said the certification process for the Max aircraft was “detailed and thorough.”

Elwell painstakingly explained that Boeing’s goal in the redesign of the 737 Max was to make the plane fly exactly as previous generations of the plane had, despite the fact that the engines were somewhat larger and repositioned farther forward on the wings.

To combat the additional lift provided by the new engines, Boeing introduced the MCAS system, an unprecedented computerized device designed to push the plane’s nose down to combat that added lift, and to prevent what’s known as a “stall” that could cause the plane to crash.

There have been 17 generations of the 737 since it began flying in 1967, and Boeing wanted the Max to perform exactly as its predecessor, the 737 NG, had.

The Justice Department’s criminal division is looking into the Max jets, while the Transportation Department’s inspector general is investigating the way they were certified, with Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao creating an “expert special committee” to review the procedures for the planes.

[Ethiopian official: Black box data shows ‘clear similarities’ between Ethiopian Airlines, Lion Air crashes]

On March 25, Ethio­pian Airlines chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam went out of his way to express his company’s continued belief in Boeing, despite repeatedly expressing concern about the Max jets.

“Let me be clear: Ethio­pian Airlines believes in Boeing. They have been a partner for many years,” he said in a statement.

Boeing’s Muilenburg returned the favor the next day and reiterated the company’s strong ties with Ethiopian Airlines, praising the carrier as “a pioneer and a leader” in the industry with a “reputation for service and safety” and more than an airline, he said, a symbol of the progress “of a great people.”

Ethio­pian Airlines, one of the flagship companies of the country, has been engaged in a massive expansion, tripling the size of the fleet in less than 10 years to 113 aircraft flying to 120 destinations in five continents carrying more than 11 million passengers a year.

Lazo reported from Washington. Ashley Halsey in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more

With its ties in Washington, Boeing has taken over more and more of the FAA’s job

‘My child! My brother!’: As mourners gather at Ethiopian Airlines crash site, an agonizing search for remains

Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for Nairobi crashes, all 157 on board killed

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-04-04 10:30:00Z
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Ethiopian Airlines pilots 'followed expected procedures before crash': Live updates - CNN

The black boxes from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 were flown to France for analysis on March 14, 2019.

To some extent, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing tried to address many of the issues raised in by investigators after the Lion Air crash back in November.

On November 7, 2018, the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive because the flight control problem experienced on that doomed flight was "likely to exist or develop in other products" of the same aircraft.

The airworthiness directive (AD) required a revision of the Airplane Flight Manual and the Operating Procedures.

Crucially, the AD did not ground the 737 Max series aircraft.

The FAA has already faced scrutiny for its decision not to ground the aircraft earlier, and this preliminary report from Ethiopian Airlines 302 is likely to increase that scrutiny.

On November 11, 2018, Boeing issued a message to operators of the 737 Max series aircraft because it had "received many requests for the same information from 737 fleet operators" following the Lion Air crash. The message explained the automated MCAS anti-stall system, which adjusts the trim to try to avoid an imminent stall. 

737 pilots who have spoken with CNN say this system was not explained during the transition training to the newer 737 Max series aircraft. Those pilots were essentially in the dark about a new system on the plane. 

This message, issued after the Lion Air crash, tried to address that by offering pilots more information. But the preliminary report from the crash of Ethiopian Airlines 302 is once again likely to amplify the scrutiny Boeing is facing about the 737 Max aircraft.

It may also give some insight as to why Boeing and the FAA announced it would take additional time -- a few more weeks -- to get the 737 Max aircraft once again approved for service.

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https://www.cnn.com/africa/live-news/ethiopian-airlines-black-box-report/index.html

2019-04-04 09:26:00Z
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