Both planes reportedly experienced erratic steep climbs and descents as well as fluctuating airspeeds before crashing shortly after takeoff. The disaster caused the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft involved after aviation regulators noticed similarities with the October crash of an Indonesian Lion Air 737 MAX 8 that killed all 189 passengers and crew. STEEP CLIMBSThe announcement came a week after Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 plummeted into a field southeast of Addis Ababa minutes into its flight to Nairobi, killing all 157 people onboard. In the case of the Ethiopian flight, the black boxes have been handed to France's BEA air safety agency, which is working with American and Ethiopian investigators to determine what went wrong. On Sunday the regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, said it followed "standard" procedures, which "have consistently produced safe aircraft designs," in certifying the 737 MAX.

Source: Daily Nation March 18, 2019 03:45 UTC