Ethiopia flight had unstable vertical speed

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight to Nairobi that crashed with 151 passengers and eight crew members aboard had unstable vertical speed, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24

Boeing 737 MAX: Incorporates Manoeuvring CharacteristicsAugmentation System (MCAS) – anti-stall feature introduced due to heavier engines, which changed aerodynamics of jet

Engines: Two CFM Leap-1B turbofans

HOW MCAS WORKS

System activates only when plane is being flown manually

Level flight: Normal angle of attack (AOA) – angle at which airflow hits aircraft

Nose-up flight: High AOA puts aircraft at risk of stalling……

Aircraft trajectory

Air flow

MCAS moves horizontal stabiliser trim anticlockwise to push jet’s nose down 


Vertical speed (feet per minute)
Vertical speed shows rate of climb or descent
Flight ET302 crashes at 05:44 GMT

2,368
0
1,344
-1,920
640
-384
2,816

4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
-1,000
-2,000
-3,000
05:37:55	Time (GMT) 	05:41:02 


Sources: Associated Press, Flightradar24
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