737 disaster clue: device found in wreckage shows doomed Ethiopian Airlines plane was set to dive

Source familiar with investigation says evidence helped persuade US regulators to ground the model

Company says software upgrade for Boeing 737 MAX will be rolled out in the coming weeks, and timeline for deploying the fix has not changed

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Pieces of the wreckage of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 are piled at the crash site near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Published: 1:06am, 16 Mar 2019Updated: 3:59pm, 16 Mar 2019

A screwlike device found in the wreckage of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 that crashed in Ethiopia on Sunday has provided investigators with an early clue into what happened, as work begins in France to decode the black boxes recovered from the scene.

The so-called jackscrew, used to set the trim that raises and lowers the plane’s nose, indicates the jet was configured to dive, based on a preliminary review, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

A handout photo released on Friday by France’s Office of Investigation and Analysis shows one of the two black box recorders of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX that crashed. Photo: BEA via AFP

The evidence helped persuade US regulators to ground the model, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss the inquiry.

France’s aviation safety agency BEA received the cockpit voice and data recorders on Thursday for decoding, while investigators on the scene near Addis Ababa continue to sift through the plane’s wreckage.

The second crash in five months has thrown Boeing into a crisis, sending its shares plunging and raising questions about the future of its bestselling jet.