While it is still way too early to know what happened on the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max Flight 302 that crashed yesterday, there are some similarities to the Lion Air Flight that crashed in October that have been reported. According to the New York Times, “The trouble appeared to begin almost immediately after takeoff. The pilots told air traffic controllers that they were having technical problems. And the plane seemed to repeatedly climb and dive before a final plunge.” Six minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crashed leaving no survivors. While rare, similar aircraft have crashed within months of each other but ultimately had no connection, and therefore, it is necessary to wait before jumping to conclusions.
There are reportedly several altitude fluctuations up and down shortly after takeoff until radar contact was lost, at 8:41am (see image). Some airlines are proactively grounding their 737 Max planes. China and Cayman Airways both are grounding their 737 Max jets.