Pilot reportedflight-control problems before Ethiopian Airlines plane went down

The Ethiopian Airlinespilot of thejet that crashed, killing 157 people, had reportedflight-control problems, the company said on Wednesdayas the disaster continued to rockthe global airline industry.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 went down six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, killing everyone on board, including 18 Canadians.

The investigation may focus on an automated anti-stallsystem that dips the aircraft's nose down.

Asrat Begashaw, a spokespersonfor Ethiopian Airlines, toldReuters the pilot had reported flight-control problems as opposed to external factors such as birds and had requested toturn back to Addis Ababa.

"In fact, he was allowed to turn back," he said.

The airline's CEO had previously said the pilot sent out a distress call, but did not provide further details.

Begashawsaidthe flightdata and voice recorders will be sent to Germany for analysis, though Germany refuted this later Wednesday.

Germout Freitag, aspokesperson for Germany's Federal Bureau ofAircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), said,"This is a new type of aircraft with a new black box, withnew software. We can't do it."

As workers continue to comb through the debris at the crash site Wednesday, Begashawsaid that no bodies will be recovered because only charred fragments of victims remained. Officials have said it willtake weeks to identify all of them using dental or DNA testing.

Watch as a former Boeing engineer reflects on the crash:

Ex-Boeing engineer: 'It's devastating'

6 years ago

Duration 0:17

Peter Lemme, a satellite communications expert and former Boeing engineer who developed automatic flight controls for several aircraft series that preceded the 737 Max 8, says news of the recent crash has been "devastating" for Boeing employees.

The still unexplained crash followed another disaster involving a Boeing 737Max 8 in Indonesia some six months ago that killed 189 people.

Though there is no evidence of links, the twin disastershave spooked passengers worldwide andtriggered a global backlash against the737 Max 8aircraft.

U.S. President Donald Trumpsaid on Wednesday that the United States would order thegrounding of the aircraft, becoming the last major country in the world to do so.Until now, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had saidit didn't have any data to show the jets are unsafe.

"We are going to be issuing an emergency order ofprohibition to ground all flights of the 737 Max 8 and the 737 Max 9 and planes associated with that line," Trump toldreporters at the White House.

The U.S. had held off grounding the jet based onassurances from Chicago-based Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Crash probe in early stages

Boeing saidthe investigation into the crashremains in its early stages. The company, which earlier said it had no basis to issue new guidance to operators announced late Wednesday it would temporarily ground its entire fleet 737 Max aircraft, which it said number 371 globally.

"We are supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution. Safety is a core value at Boeing for as long as we have been building airplanes; and it always will be. There is no greater priority for our company and our industry," it said in a statement, though said it has "full confidence" in the models.

Earlier Wednesday,Canada, which had been one of the last holdouts, announced aban on the aircraft from itsairspace.

Federal Transport Minister Marc GarneausaidOttawa was issuinga safety notice tostop 737 Max 8 and Max 9 jets fromleaving, arriving or flying over Canada.

Canada had held off grounding the plane until Wednesday, when Garneau said he received new satellite data that suggested similarities between theflight profiles of the Ethiopian jet and that of a Lion Air plane of the same type that crashed in Indonesia last year. Bothplanes crashed shortly after takeoff.

It is the first time since Sunday's crash that a regulatorhas taken a grounding decision after receiving new data, though there is still no data for now from inside the aircraft.

Air Canada andWestJet Airlinesoperate a total of 37 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets. Sunwing, which operates four Max 8s, said Tuesday it was suspending use of the jets but said the decisionwas not related to safety and was instead about "evolving commercial reasons" such as airspace restrictions imposed by some destinations.

India, Thailand, Egypt, Lebanon, Kosovoand Hong Kong also said Wednesday they were banningthe Max 8 from their airspace, joining the U.K. and the entire European Union, among others.

In October, the same modelcrashed in Indonesia minutes after takeoff, killing 189 peopleand sparking concerns over automated flight systems.

Begashawsaid the Ethiopian Airlinespilot had been trained on the plane after theOctober Lion Air crash.

"They were trained, the manual updated and simulatortraining was completed."

Begashaw said the airlinewould consider whether to proceed with an order for more 737 Max 8s after the preliminary investigation.

Boeing has nearly 5,000 more on order and says it plans to update the software in coming weeks.

Low-altitude problems reported

In November, an incident was reported to the NASA-runAviation Safety Reporting Database that involved difficulty controlling the 737 Max at low altitude just after takeoff withautopilot engaged, according to documents first published by theDallas Morning News and verified by Reuters.

"We discussed the departure at length, and I reviewed in mymind our automation setup and flight profile, but can't think ofany reason the aircraft would pitch nose down so aggressively," the first officer said in the report.

The pilot gave his account of the incident and wrote: "With the concerns with theMax 8 nose down stuff, we thought it appropriate to bring it to your attention."

Boeing did not respond immediately to a request for comment,but it has previously said it provided appropriate informationto pilots to use an existing procedure to handle the issue oferroneous data affecting the anti-stall system.