Indonesia Crash Revelations Raise Pressure on Ethiopia Investigation

Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are parked at a Boeing production facility in Renton, Wash., on March 11, 2019. David Ryder/Reuters

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia/JAKARTA, Indonesia—The world’s biggest planemaker Boeing faced growing obstacles on March 20 to return its grounded 737 MAX fleet to the skies, while details emerged of an Indonesian crash with potential similarities to the Ethiopian disaster.

Experts suspect an automated system, meant to stop stalling by dipping the nose, may be involved in both cases, with pilots struggling to override it as their jets plunged downwards.