Once again, an almost brand new jetliner crashes not long after takeoff as it flies erratically and pilots ask to return to the airport. The crash Sunday morning of a Boeing Co. 737 Max 8 in Ethiopia bears unmistakable similarities to the Oct. 29 tragedy off the coast of Indonesia involving the same model, prompting questions about whether a design issue that arose during the earlier accident could be to blame. The stakes for Boeing and one of its most popular models are enormous.
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from doomed Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 arrived in Paris on Thursday where French aviation authorities were tasked with probing the black boxes for clues to the tragedy.
France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety said there was no immediate information on the condition of the recorders. Preliminary information could take several days to extract, an agency spokesman told Reuters.
Sunday's crash, which killed all 157 aboard, was the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 in five months. In October, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in the Java Sea 12 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia. All 189 people aboard perished.
On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said the flight path data of two airliners in the moments prior to the crashes showed similarities.
The FAA issued an emergency order temporarily grounding the planes in the United States, the last nation where they were flown to do so. Boeing then formally grounded all the almost 400 planes around the world.
© Provided by USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. Two men carry suitcases containing the flight recorders from the Ethiopian jet, into the French air accident investigation authority, Thursday, March 14, 2019 in Le Bourget, north of Paris. Daniel Elwell, acting head of the FAA, said the data linked the behavior and flight path of the Ethiopian Airline jet to data from the crash of a Lion Air jet in October.
“Evidence we found on the ground made it even more likely that the flight path was very close to Lion Air’s,” Elwell said Wednesday. Before the FAA announcement, President Donald Trump issued an emergency order halting flights of the MAX 8 and MAX 9.
Elwell also dismissed claims that the recent partial shutdown of the U.S. government had delayed software upgrades for Max 8 planes developed after the Lion Air disaster. Those upgrades are scheduled for completion by month's end, Elwell said.
The United States had been under pressure to join nations worldwide in grounding the planes after concerns mounted that the Ethiopian crash was similar to one in October. Wednesday, Canada joined the list of countries that halted the flights.
More: President Donald Trump says US has grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 after crashes
Boeing said it supported the move.
"Boeing has determined – out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft's safety – to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of all 371 MAX aircraft," Boeing said in a statement.
The MAX fleet began flying two years ago and includes 74 domestic planes. Airlines have ordered more than 4,500 of the jetliners, the newest version of the 737 and best-selling airliner ever.
Garuda, the national airline of Indonesia, is considering canceling its order for 20 Boeing 737 MAX planes, CEO Ari Askhara said Thursday.
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At least one airline wants compensation from Boeing for the cost of parking the jets. Norwegian Air Shuttles spokeswoman Tonje Naess said the carrier, which flies 18 of the planes, should not face "any financial burden for a brand new aircraft that will not to be used." It was not immediately clear what those costs might be or what Boeing might be pressed to pay.
Records show that federal aviation authorities received at least 11 reports concerning perceived safety problems with the aircraft. Two pilots reported their planes unexpectedly pitched nose down after they engaged autopilot following departure. Another pilot reported a “temporary level off” triggered by the aircraft automation.
The pilot of a flight in November 2018 called part of the aircraft’s flight manual “inadequate and almost criminally insufficient.”
From the flight manual: Why pilots have complained about the 737 MAX 8
In the USA, Southwest and American fly the plane, and both expressed confidence in their fleets.
The MAX 8 that crashed Sunday was 4 months old and minutes into a Nairobi-bound flight from Addis Ababa when it slammed into a field. In October, a Lion Air plane of the same model crashed into the Java Sea minutes after departing from Jakarta, Indonesia. None of the 189 passengers and crew survived.
Both flights crashed after drastic speed fluctuations during ascent. Both pilots made ill-fated efforts to return to their airport of origin after takeoff. The FAA said it expects to require Boeing to complete MAX 8 flight control system enhancements – prompted by the Lion Air crash – by month's end.
More: Which airlines are still flying the Boeing 737 MAX 8 (and which aren't)?
The plane involved in Sunday's crash was delivered to the airline in November, had flown 1,200 hours and had undergone a maintenance check Feb. 4. The pilot, who had more than 8,000 hours of flight experience, had issued a distress call and tried to return to the airport.
Contributing: Donovan Slack, Chris Woodyard, Bart Jansen, Gus Garcia-Roberts, Steve Reilly and Alison Young; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boeing 737 Max 8 black boxes from Ethiopian Airlines flight crash sent to France for examination
These men lost their wives and children in the Ethiopia plane crash. Instead of bodies, they bring back soil.
Paul Njoroge and his father-in-law John Quindos Karanja walked away from the site where their wives and children died with bags of soil in their hands. require(["medianetNativeAdOnArticle"], function (medianetNativeAdOnArticle)
{
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}); Three generations of their family were on the Ethiopian Airlines flight to Kenya that crashed last week just minutes after takeoff in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board.
Once again, an almost brand new jetliner crashes not long after takeoff as it flies erratically and pilots ask to return to the airport. The crash Sunday morning of a Boeing Co. 737 Max 8 in Ethiopia bears unmistakable similarities to the Oct. 29 tragedy off the coast of Indonesia involving the same model, prompting questions about whether a design issue that arose during the earlier accident could be to blame. The stakes for Boeing and one of its most popular models are enormous. 
More than three hours after Ethiopian Airlines tweeted that there were no survivors from flight ET302 to Nairobi which crashed on Sunday, authorities finally began informing families waiting in Kenya. Many had already spent hours at the airport, frustration turning to fear as social media began to light up with news of the crash. "They've told us nothing, absolutely nothing," wept Ginny Muhu, 57, who was waiting for her fiance George Kamau. "I'm not even sure if I want to know. 
Black box from crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight recovered- state TV 
Two flight data recorders from Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 have been found, as airlines around the world ground Boeing 737 MAX 8s like the one which crashed Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. require(["medianetNativeAdOnArticle"], function (medianetNativeAdOnArticle)
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}); The plane's Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) were recovered from the wreckage, Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement. 
Their calls follow the decision by authorities in the United Kingdom to ground the plane. 
The pilot of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed reported that he was having flight-control problems and wanted to return to the airport, the chief executive of the airline said. In recordings of the pilot’s conversations with controllers, he didn’t indicate any external problems with the jet or the flight, like a bird collision, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told The Wall Street Journal. Get news and analysis on politics, policy, national security and more, delivered right to your inbox The pilot “reported back to air-traffic controllers that he was having flight-control problems” and wanted to return to Addis Ababa, Mr. 
