The first major clue will come from the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, which were both recovered from the scene of the disaster on Monday.
Those crucial items are in the custody of Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority in Addis Ababa, but it’s not yet clear where they will be analyzed. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told CNN Tuesday that they will be sent to another country for scrutiny.
Full investigations into an aviation disaster can take years — but the first indications of what those recorders tell us should emerge in the coming days.