Tuesday 26 March 2019 9:45 am | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 1:12 am

Regulators ‘likely’ to release Boeing 737 Max 8 jet crash report this week

A crash report for an Ethiopian Airlines flight which went down earlier this month killing 157 people will likely be released this week, according to the country’s transport ministry.

This morning a spokesperson for the department told Reuters the findings would probably become available before the end of the week, but added “there could be unpredictable things,” without giving further details.

Plane maker Boeing has come under the spotlight since the incident, which was the second in six months which involved its 737 Max 8 jet, and the model has been grounded across the globe for several weeks.

The 737 Max range is Boeing’s new flagship plane designed to be a mainstay in the aviation industry for decades to come.

Both the aviation industry and grieving relatives of victims will be anxious to find out the cause of the crash, which bore similarities to a crash involving the same plane model in Indonesia in October, which killed 189 people.

Ethiopian and French authorities have pointed to “clear similarities” between the incidents, putting pressure on Boeing and US regulator the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take action.

Boeing is briefing airlines and pilots on proposed software updates to the jet this week, but any fixes will need approval from regulators around the world.

It comes after Ethiopian Airlines chief Tewolde GebreMariam said on Monday that the company “believes in Boeing,” despite the incidents.

Airlines around the world have been forced to delay orders of the jet until the cause of the crash is known. Yesterday Qatar Airways said it was holding off on an order of the jet, while Norwegian Air has postponed the sale of older models as it continues trying to mitigate disruption to flights caused by grounding its 18-strong fleet of 737 Max planes.