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   From: burr-head.airlines@cnn.com   
      
   (CNN)An off-duty pilot in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet   
   jumped in to help crew disable a malfunctioning flight-control   
   system as it experienced difficulties in October, according to   
   Bloomberg.   
      
   The next day, with a different crew, the same plane crashed into   
   the sea off Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.   
      
   On doomed Lion Air Flight 610, pilots searched in a handbook for   
   a way to stop the plane from nosediving, according to an   
   exclusive Reuters report.   
      
   Reuters cites the information from three people with knowledge   
   of the contents of the cockpit voice recorder that has never   
   been made public.   
      
   Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has   
   refused to comment to CNN on the content of the voice recorder   
   as the investigation is still ongoing. Boeing also refused to   
   comment to CNN on the matter Wednesday.   
      
   Indonesian authorities found the cockpit voice recorder in the   
   Java Sea on January 14 and said it could take up to a year to   
   publish a full report into the crash.   
      
   CNN contacted Lion Air Group Captain Daniel Putut for comment   
   and he directed questions to the KNKT.   
      
   Soerjanto Tjahjono, the head of KNKT told CNN on Wednesday they   
   were not aware of the details in the Bloomberg report. CNN   
   continues to reach out to more officials at the KNKT.   
      
   Investigators said the jet experienced problems on its last four   
   flights -- including, crucially, the flight that crashed,   
   according to Tjahjono.   
      
   Indonesian authorities confirmed that the plane's angle of   
   attack (AOA) sensor was replaced after a flight from Manado, in   
   North Sulawesi to Denpasar, Bali on October 28. The Boeing 737   
   Max 8 then made another flight to Jakarta that same day, and the   
   pilots reported further problems.   
      
   The AOA sensors send information to the plane's computers about   
   the angle of the plane's nose relative to the airflow over and   
   under the wings to help determine whether the plane is about to   
   stall.   
      
   Software installed on Boeing's 737 Max 8 planes, called the   
   Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS),   
   automatically lowers the nose of the plane when it receives   
   information from the AOA sensors that the aircraft is flying too   
   slowly or steeply, and at risk of stalling.   
      
   A preliminary KNKT report said the crew of Air Lion Flight 610   
   struggled to override the plane's automatic systems in the   
   minutes before it plunged into the ocean. The system pulled the   
   plane's nose down more than two dozen times, the report said.   
      
   The report said the MCAS system was responding to incorrect data   
   transmitted by an AOA sensor. A different flight crew   
   experienced the same issue on a flight from Denpasar to Jakarta   
   the previous day, but had turned off the MCAS and took manual   
   control of the plane, the report said.   
      
   Once in Jakarta, a Lion Air technician checked the plane again   
   and gave it the green light to fly on its final flight, from   
   Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang on the Indonesian island of Bangka.   
      
   The jet crashed 13 minutes after takeoff.   
      
   Experts have pointed to similarities between the Lion Air crash   
   six months ago and last week's Ethiopian Airlines crash, which   
   killed all 157 people on board. Both were Boeing 737 Max 8   
   planes that were equipped with the same automated flight   
   software and both crashed minutes after takeoff.   
      
   The Ethiopian Minister of Transport said preliminary data   
   recovered from the black boxes of the crash in Ethiopia showed   
   similarities to the Air Lion crash. But the investigation is   
   ongoing.   
      
   Following the Ethiopian Airlines crash -- the second crash of a   
   737 Max 8 plane in less than five months -- countries and   
   airlines around the world grounded their 737 Max planes.   
      
   Boeing insists that the 737 Max 8 is safe to fly.   
      
   "Safety is Boeing's number one priority and we have full   
   confidence in the safety of the Max," Boeing said in a statement   
   on March 12.   
      
   "We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made   
   decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home   
   markets.   
      
   It is also important to note that the Federal Aviation   
   Administration is not mandating any further action at this time,   
   and based on the information currently available, we do not have   
   any basis to issue new guidance to operators."   
      
      
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