The pilot of the second Boeing 737-8 MAX that crashed over the weekend was having flight-control problems soon after takeoff, a new report said Wednesday.
The pilot of the Ethiopian Airlines plane “reported back to air-traffic controllers that he was having flight-control problems,” the president of that airline told the Wall Street Journal.
The CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, added that the pilot wasn’t pointing out any other problems with the plane as it was taking off, and asked to return to the airport.
The report is likely to increase calls for the U.S. to ground all 737-8 MAX planes, as many other countries have done in the wake of two crashes.
So far, the FAA has said it has no reason to ground the new planes being operated in the United States. On Tuesday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg assured Trump the planes are safe.
But U.S. passengers are starting to clamor for information about what plane they are flying, and many are asking airlines directly for a different aircraft if they are booked on the 737 MAX.
The airline is expected to send the flight data recorder from the plane to Europe for further analysis.
