A preliminary report from Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee in November did not assign responsibility for the Lion Air crash, but described the man-vs-machine battle that the pilot, an Indian national, and his co-pilot, an Indonesian national, faced against the flight system. The cockpit, without indicating an emergency, reportedly requested that the flight turn back to Jakarta but air-traffic controllers lost contact with the plane shortly thereafter. A more comprehensive report is expected in October or November this year.

Airline unions said after the Lion Air crash that pilots were not aware of the new anti-stall mechanism until that incident, and that they didn’t receive specific training for it. Boeing has said the steps required to stabilize the aircraft are part of pilot training. Pilots and safety experts have noted there are a number of steps to be followed, against the backdrop of a noisy anti-stall warning that rattles loudly. The anti-stall mechanism can begin functioning at a fairly low altitude, and can be set off by erroneous signals form a single sensor.

The Max 8 and 9 series planes began to be inducted into fleets two years ago. Boeing and regulators have been looking at the possibility of a software update to alter how the Max’s anti-stall mechanism works, but this has not happened yet (paywall).

Boeing is facing several lawsuits in the wake of the Lion Air crash, including one brought by the family of the Indonesian co-pilot, and another on behalf of families of 17 victims of that crash.

—Abdi Latif Dahir contributed to this article

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