Pilot of crashed Ethiopian Airlines jet reported flight-control issues: WSJ

The pilot of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed on Sunday reported that he was having flight-control problems and wanted to return to the airport, the chief executive of the airline said.

In recordings of the pilot’s conversations with controllers, he didn’t indicate any external problems with the jet or the flight, like a bird collision, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told The Wall Street Journal.

The pilot “reported back to air-traffic controllers that he was having flight-control problems” and wanted to return to Addis Ababa, Gebremariam said.

The executive said he had listened to the recording and there were no other problems cited by the pilot.