Strong similarities in 'angle of attack' data of doomed aircraft and data of Lion Air jet-source

Investigators probing the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX jet eight days ago have found strong similarities in the 'angle of attack' data recorded by the doomed aircraft's cockpit recorder and data from a Lion Air jet of the same model that crashed in October, a person familiar with the matter said. Graphs of the two sets of data are "very, very similar," the person said on Monday, asking not to be identified because the matter is still in the early stages of investigation.

The angle is a key flight parameter that must remain narrow enough to preserve lift and avoid an aerodynamic stall. A computer's response to an apparently faulty angle of attack reading is at the centre of an ongoing probe into the Lion Air disaster.