This archive report was first published on 9 October 2019.
On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX jet operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed near Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board.
The crash led to a six-month grounding of the aircraft model, following reports that an automated control system caused the plane to nose-dive into a field.
The same system error was blamed for the crash of an Indonesian Lion Air plane in October 2018, which killed 189 people.
According to the Associated Press, Ethiopian Airlines' former chief engineer Yonas Yeshanew alleged that the airline had a history of falsifying records and signing off on dodgy maintenance and repair jobs.
Yonas claimed that someone from the airline had entered the maintenance record system after the crash, but he did not know if anything was altered.
However, Ethiopian Airlines denied the allegations, stating that all relevant hard copy maintenance records were sealed, stored in a secure place, and delivered to investigators immediately after the crash.
The airline also claimed that all maintenance activities were recorded on hard copy documents, which are the official records of the aircraft.
Yonas, who is seeking asylum in the United States, was arrested and interrogated for talking to journalists about his concerns following the crash.
He described himself as a whistleblower, not a disgruntled employee, and claimed that he fled the country to avoid further persecution.
