Neither the Lion Air aircraft which crashed in Indonesia nor the Ethiopian Airlines jet, had the feature, the source said. American Airlines, which operates 24 737 MAX 8, had bought the option, anticipating potential malfunctions, a source close to the matter told AFP. Preliminary results in the investigation into October's Lion Air crash in Indonesia indicate an "angle of attack" sensor, which feeds data to the MCAS, had malfunctioned. In the case of the 737 MAX, Boeing expressed a case of urgency because of its medium-haul competition with the Airbus A320Neo that launched shortly before, the sources said. Although it has suspended deliveries of the 737 MAX, Boeing has decided to continue production.

Source: Ethiopian News March 22, 2019 00:56 UTC