Screw Found at Crash Site Shows Boeing 737 Was Set to Dive

Workers in France are also starting to decode the black boxes recovered from the wreckage.

Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft
Boeing knew of the 737 Max problems before a series of crashes. (Stephen Brashear/ Getty)
Getty Images

Investigators found a screw-like device in the wreckage of the Boeing Co. 737 Max 8 that crashed Sunday in Ethiopia that helps give them an early idea of what may have transpired. According to Bloomberg, the “jackscrew,” which is used to set the trim that raises and lowers the plane’s nose, seems to show that the jet was configured to dive. This evidence helped convince U.S. regulators to ground the model.

All 157 people abroad the plane were killed in the crash. It was the second crash in five months, sending Boeing into a crisis and raising questions about what will happen to the company’s best selling jet. France’s aviation safety agency BEA has the cockpit voice and data recorders and are currently decoding. Meanwhile, investigators on the scene near Addis Ababa are still looking through the rest of the debris.

The New York Times also reported that Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 to Nairobi hit trouble almost immediately after takeoff. According to the report, the pilot asked to turn back only three minutes into the flight. The aircraft was lurching up and down hundreds of feet at a time and had accelerated beyond acceptable limits.

Boeing shares have lost 12 percent, or $28 billion in market value since Sunday’s crash, Bloomberg reports.

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