Indonesia blames 737 MAX design, pilot error for Lion Air crash, says report

Indonesian authorities cited failures in the Boeing 737 MAX design and oversight as contributing to the Lion Air plane crash last year, the Wall Street

Journal reported on Sunday.

The report into the crash, which will be formally released in early November, also blames pilot error and maintenance issues for the crash that killed 189 people shortly after the flight left Jakarta last October, the newspaper said.

The Boeing model was grounded worldwide after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed after taking off from Addis Ababa in March, killing 157 people.

Preliminary investigations into both accidents implicated the MCAS anti-stall system, designed specifically for the 737 MAX.

Indonesian investigators could still change their findings, which have been shared with the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Wall Street Journal said.

US officials are scheduled to visit Indonesia this month to discuss the report, in which Indonesian investigators list some 100 factors in the crash.

While NTSB is unlikely to object to the findings, Boeing and FAA are worried the report “will unduly emphasize design and FAA certification missteps”, the newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

“Boeing continues to support the investigation as the accident report is being completed,” a spokesman for the company said.

NTSB is preparing to announce “around the end of the month” recommendations to improve pilot and crew training, and to FAA’s certification process for new airplane models, according to the newspaper.

A panel of international regulators set up by FAA is expected in the coming weeks to submit a report critical of the relationship between Boeing and the agency.

New FAA head Steve Dickson was set to meet his international counterparts yesterday ahead of an International Civil Aviation Organization meeting in Montreal to discuss Boeing’s proposed changes to the 737 MAX and its eventual return to service.