Pilots: Boeing didn’t talk of new control feature eyed in crash

Boeing didn’t tell airline pilots about features of a new flight-control system in its 737 MAXthat reportedly is a focus of the investigation into last month’s deadly crash in Indonesia, according to U.S. pilots who fly the jet.

Pilots say they were not trained in new features of an anti-stall system in the aircraft that differ from previous models of the popular 737.

The automated system is designed to help pilots avoid raising the plane’s nose too high, which can cause the plane to stall. It automatically pushes the nose of the plane down.

But if that nose-down command is triggered by faulty sensor readings — as suspected in the Lion Air crash — pilots can struggle to control the plane, which can go into a dive and perhaps crash, according to a Boeing safety bulletin.