Jakarta (AFP)

A design flaw, inadequate pilot training and poor crew performance led to the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crash off Indonesia, which killed 189 people on October 28, 2018, said Friday the Indonesian investigators.

A few months after the crash, an Ethiopian aircraft of the same model, which served as the link between Addis Ababa and Nairobi, also crashed, killing 157 people.

The MCAS, an automatic system that was supposed to prevent the aircraft from going into a dive, was quickly blamed and all 737 MAXs have been grounded since mid-March.

"The design and certification of the MCAS were unsuitable," said the national committee for transport safety in a report released Friday in Jakarta.

The investigators pointed out that the MCAS was vulnerable because it was based on only one sensor and that the pilots had not been well informed about how to react in the event of a malfunction.

"The aircraft flight manual and pilot training did not include information on the MCAS," they point out.

In addition, a sensor of this system had been "badly calibrated" and this defect was not detected by the teams in charge of the maintenance of the aircraft.

During a previous flight, the crew had already encountered problems of loss of control of the aircraft.

In addition, the emergency situation "was not managed effectively" by the crew, whose deficiencies had "already been identified during the training and reappeared during the flight in question".

- Boeing's condolences -

A committee of the World Civil Aviation Authorities (JATR) recently found that the US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) failed to properly assess the MCAS because it lacked engineers and expertise .

On Friday, after the publication of this report, Boeing presented "his" sincere condolences "to the families of the victims.

The group also announced that it had made changes to the MCAS system in question.

"These software changes will prevent the flight control conditions that appeared during the accident from recurring." said Dennis Muilenburg, managing director of Boeing, in a statement.

"Boeing is updating crew manuals and training pilots so that each pilot will have all the information he needs to fly the 737 MAX safely," the group said.

The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), criticized from all sides for entrusting the certification of important aircraft systems to Boeing, promised to review all the changes made by the American aircraft manufacturer on these aircraft.

"The plane will only be put back into service once the FAA determines whether it is safe," she said after the Indonesian report was released.

After reading this report Wednesday in camera, some relatives of the victims expressed their disappointment.

"However we have no choice but to accept it," said Epi Syamsul Qomar, who lost his son.

© 2019 AFP