Indonesian authorities have cited failures in the Boeing 737 MAX design and oversight as contributing to last year’s Lion Air plane crash, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The Indonesian report into the crash, which is to be formally released in early November, also blames pilot error and maintenance issues for the crash that killed 189 people shortly after the flight departed from Jakarta in October last year, the newspaper said.
The Boeing plane model was later 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 have implicated the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System anti-stall system, designed specifically for the 737 MAX.
Indonesian investigators could still change their findings, which have been shared with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Wall Street Journal said.
US officials are scheduled to visit Indonesia at the end of this month to discuss the report, in which Indonesian investigators list about 100 factors in the crash.
While the NTSB is unlikely to object to the findings, Boeing and the FAA are worried that the report “will unduly emphasize design and FAA certification missteps,” the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
“Boeing continues to support the investigation as the accident report is being completed,” a company spokesman said.
The FAA and NTSB declined to comment on the newspaper’s report, referring questions to the Indonesian authorities.
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