ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopian Airlines' CEO says the pilots who flew the plane that crashed on March 10 had trained on "all appropriate simulators," rejecting reports that they had not been properly prepared to handle the new aircraft.
Tewolde Gebremariam said in a statement Monday that the airline owns simulators to help pilots train on the Boeing 737 MAX, which has software installed that requires new training. The software can pitch the plane's nose down in some cases to keep it from stalling.
There is speculation that the software could have contributed to the crash, as well as that of another Boeing 737 MAX, a Lion Air flight in October.
Gebremariam said: "Contrary to some media reports, our pilots who fly the new model were trained on all appropriate simulators."