Lion Air voice recorder reveals pilots’ frantic struggle to control plane: report

The crew on the doomed Lion Air flight frantically attempted to control their Boeing 737 Max plane, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing sources with knowledge of information from the cockpit voice recorder.

Pilots reportedly searched through the handbook to try to understand why the plane was headed downward before their plane crashed in October in Indonesia, killing 189 people. 

A November preliminary report showed that two minutes into the flight, a “flight control problem” was reported to air traffic controllers, according to Reuters.{mosads} 

The aircraft reportedly incorrectly told pilots that it was experiencing a stall, meaning its wings could not lift it and keep it in the air. The jet’s nose reportedly tilted down in response. 

“They didn’t seem to know the trim was moving down,” a source told Reuters. “They thought only about airspeed and altitude. That was the only thing they talked about.”

The October crash is facing renewed scrutiny after a second Boeing 737 Max went down earlier this month, killing 157 people. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Tuesday asked that the Transportation Department inspector general review the certification process for the jets.