Some analysts and safety experts say there’s no evidence yet to conclude anything is fundamentally wrong with Boeing's bestselling plane, but amid a boom in air travel that's boosting demand for pilots, the experience of the people at the controls in two disturbing crashes may be at issue.
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“Right now the facts don’t support grounding the airplane,” says John Goglia, a former accident investigator and board member at the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. While Ethiopian has a strong reputation for safety, the airline has been expanding rapidly at a time of rising demand for pilots worldwide, and experts have questioned the experience of those commanding Flight 302. Ethiopian Airlines said the copilot, Ahmed Nur Mohammod Nur, only had 200 hours of flight time, a sharp contrast with the U.S., where 1,500 hours is required to take the second seat on a commercial plane.
Boeing has faced accusations that it failed to properly inform pilots and airlines of the MCAS anti-stall controls, which are new to the 737 MAX, added to deal with the risk that its larger engines, mounted higher up and further forward on the wings than on the previous version of the plane, could cause the nose of the plane to point too high in certain maneuvers, leading to a loss of lift.
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