Boeing is preparing to send a safety warning to operators of its new 737 Max jets in response to the investigation of last week’s fatal crash off the coast of Indonesia that left 189 dead, said a person familiar with the matter.
The safety warning comes in what’s called a service bulletin that goes out to all operators of the airplane and includes instructions on exactly what pilots should do if the condition arises.
The bulletin from Boeing will alert airlines that erroneous readings from a flight-monitoring system can cause the planes to abruptly dive.
The warning is based on preliminary findings from the accident involving a Lion Air jetliner.
Under some circumstances, such as when pilots are manually flying, the Max jets will automatically try to push down the nose if they detect that an aerodynamic stall is possible.
