> the altitude seems to stabilize. So why the sudden drop before the crash? > There must be a sudden behavioural change of the plane or the pilots right before

> the altitude seems to stabilize. So why the sudden drop before the crash? > There must be a sudden behavioural change of the plane or the pilots right before it went down The altitude was stable because the pilot valiantly countered the AND (aircraft nose down) trim input from MCAS with ANU trim (using the electric trim switch) again and again and again. And again. From what I gather, he then handed the plane off to the copilot to look things up in the QRH (Quick reference handbook, checklists basically), and unfortunately the copilot did not trim up quite as stubbornly, allowing MCAS to trim down so much as to be unrecoverable with elevator control forces alone. Truly terrible. > Second question: why did they retract the flaps? Wouldn't the wings generate more lift with flaps extended? Standard operating procedure after the initial climb, you retract flaps. Yes, wing would generate more lift with flaps, but that’s not the problem if you’re pointing downward. Having said that, deploying flaps would have inhibited MCAS and allowed them to control the plane, maybe, but they didn’t know that. EDIT to add: I’m talking about the doomed Lion Air flight here (which the FDR data plot linked above pertains to, if I’m not mistaken).