Calibrated Altitude

Calibrated altitude values reflect the aircraft’s altitude above Mean Sea Level, a constant value used in aviation and other applications. 0 feet/meters above Mean Sea Level does not necessarily reflect an aircraft’s altitude above the ground.
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/t...ar24-glossary/

Independent of the cause of the crash, this must be the worst start of any new aircraft or major derivative in modern times in terms of number of deadly crashes and numbers of fatalities divided by cumulative flight hours? It must be worse than the DC-10, and second to the Comet only? Truly an unbelievable bad start for the Max.

Indeed. Probably coincidence. But if I had to board a MAX tomorrow I would be slightly concerned. Purely statistically this is pretty much unparalleled in Airliners in the last 40 years...
In Chicago there will be 'panic mode'.

We have no ideas beyond some possibly educated guess-work as to what happened here but I do have a question that can be answered by someone with the relevant experience. As a 10,000 + hr career pilot I'm not exactly a newby but have not any experience with the latest sophisticated systems being introduced on modern aircraft.
Q. Is there something preventing pilots of these aircraft from simply hitting a 'disconnect' button, listening for the 'C' tone and then getting on with flying manually ? Not suggesting that this is relevant to this accident.

Bishoftu is more like 40 Kms SE of Addis. There is a town named Mojo (Yes, I know!) around 60 Kms SE of Addis. Bishoftu itself has an airport with a 2.5 mile long runway.

Per avherald:
"The last transponder data were received from position N9.027 E39.153 about 21nm east of Addis Ababa at FL086. Terrain elevation at that point is 8130 feet MSL, FL086 corrected for QNH indicates the aircraft was flying at 8173 feet MSL at that position."

Note that this data is very suspicious to me because corrected for QNH the aircraft hardly reached 500ft AGL at any time on the whole flight.

In response to SteinarN's post, I initially thought Comet - but that of course was a cycles issue, so didn't manifest until some time later. The Lion Air incident is still being investigated, and this one is far too soon to know anything.

Watching with interest.

Just for your future understanding of FR24, the type of altitude is listed above the value of the altitude. So it is Calibrated Altitude. The GPS altitude has a lock icon below, it is a premium feature and needs a subscription.

That has been corrected.

https://et.usembassy.gov/security-al...-8-march-2019/

Event: The U.S. Embassy is aware of calls for a protest to be held on Sunday, March 10, 2019 at Meskel Square. It is unknown whether the protest has been or will be approved by Ethiopian authorities. Protests have already occurred in many parts of the Oromia region since March 6, and additional protests may materialize.U.S. Embassy personnel are advised to avoid Meskel Square and limit movement around Addis Ababa on Sunday, March 10. U.S. Government travelers have been advised not to arrive or depart Bole International Airport on Sunday, March 10, and U.S. Embassy personnel are also temporarily prohibited from traveling to Oromia.Actions to Take:

• Monitor local media for updates.
• Avoid crowds
• Avoid demonstrations.
• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Keep a low profile.

Assistance:

U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

+251-111-306-000


Also:https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-47513534

Unlike many african operators, ethiopian has an excellent reputation and a good safety record.
Was an emergency declared ?, my first guess for a problem so early in a flight would be possible fuel issues but until we know more we really have no idea.

I would not put too much stock in that. My American friends in a small Tanzanian town used to get alarmist emails from them on a regular basis.

Judging by the FR24 raw data, propulsion or energy-related issues don't seem to be the problem, as the forward speed is rapidly increasing.
The problem seems to lie in the fact they were unable to convert the forward speed into altitude.

(Which may be related to a nose down trim runaway, indeed...)

Much confusing 'info' so far.

Flight radar seems to show the flight ending 20 odd miles due E of Addis on flat high plateau terrain at 280Kts having apparently barely achieved 500ft agl in all that distance.

Airline and media report the accident at Debre Zeit/Bishoftu, miles away in a completely different direction. Wouldn't they know where the accident occurred?

The RNAV SID calls for 10500' and max speed 215 KT on runway track before turning right.

Whilst Ethiopian have a good record they have had a couple when flocks of pigeons were ingested. I am not familiar with this airport but if they are prevalent that could explain the lack of climb