Boeing finds 'additional problem' in its review of 737 Max jets

Boeing has revealed its troubled 737 Max jets are suffering from an additional software problem that regulators say must be fixed before the planes can be cleared to fly again.

As investigators in Ethiopia said a preliminary examination suggested the Boeing jet that crashed last month, with the deaths of 157 passengers and crew, was struck by excessive speed and was forced downwards by a wrongly triggered automation system, new problems emerged for the airline back home in Seattle.

The 'Washington Post' said a review by Boeing of the stall prevention system suspected of being behind the Ethiopian Airlines crash and a crash last year in Indonesia, had detected an "additional software problem". It said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had ordered the problem be addressed before the plane would be cleared for flying. It said the company termed the problem "relatively minor" and was not related to the anti-stall system.

However, it is another headache for the company, which is struggling to respond to the global grounding of the jet with which it intended to compete with rival Airbus.

Boeing's CEO has apologised for the deaths and vowed to get to the bottom of what caused the incidents.

"We at Boeing are sorry for the lives lost. I cannot remember a more heart-wrenching time in my career with this great company," chief executive Dennis Muilenburg wrote.

He said the release of the preliminary report in Ethiopia showed it was apparent that in both the crash in Africa, and Indonesia, the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system, known as MCAS, activated in response to erroneous angle of attack information.