Apparently Boeing sort of forgot to tell pilots about the new software, never mind actually training them on it:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/worl ... crash.html

As per usual , it seems people are concentrating on the end result instead of fixing the cause of the problem.

timmydownawell wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 1:54 pm Wonder if it was a problem with the plane, or with the pilots (unfamiliar with the aircraft? - not sure how different the 737MAX is to previous models)

So it seems it was both of the above. Some problem (pitot tube issue?), causing the plane to think it was stalling and go into a recovery dive, and new/different procedures required for the pilots to deal with it, for which the pilots had not been trained.

If the maintenance crew had successfully diagnosed and repaired the air speed problem the crash would not have occurred. But then it would only have been a matter of time before it happened to another plane.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/new-q ... 50fww.html

More information about the new system that Boeing had implemented:
https://theaircurrent.com/aviation-safe ... cas-jt610/

Doomed Lion Air jet was 'not airworthy' on penultimate flight: investigators
28 November 2018

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A Lion Air jet that crashed into the sea off Indonesia last month was not in a safe condition on its second-to-last flight, when pilots experienced similar problems to those on its doomed last journey, Indonesian investigators said on Wednesday.

A preliminary report unveiled fresh details of efforts by pilots to steady the jet as they reported a “flight control problem”, including the captain’s last words to air traffic control asking to be cleared to “five thou” or 5,000 feet.

Indonesia’s transport safety committee (KNKT) focused on airline maintenance and training and the response of a Boeing anti-stall system to a recently replaced sensor but did not give a cause for the crash that killed all 189 people on board.

“At this stage I do not have the answer,” KNKT investigator Nurcahyo Utomo told reporters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indo ... SKCN1NX09F

Would really help if they could find the cockpit voice recorder.

timmydownawell wrote: ↑Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:24 pm Would really help if they could find the cockpit voice recorder.

Who is '' they '' ? Maybe '' they '' don't want to find it as it may contain something '' they '' don't want to hear.