Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed on Sunday, killing 157 people, had problems almost immediately after takeoff, a person who reviewed air traffic communications told The New York Times.

“Break break, request back to home,” the captain reportedly said to air traffic controllers. "Request vector for landing.”

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The controllers also reportedly noticed that the Boeing 737 Max 8 was repeatedly moving up and down hundreds of feet. The controllers lost contact with the flight five minutes after it took off, the Times reported Thursday.

Inspectors found a screw-like device, known as a jackscrew, which helps lower or raise the plane's nose, at the crash site. The jackscrew's configuration shows that the plane was likely to dive, according to an initial probe, Bloomberg News reported, citing a source familiar.

The flight was headed from Ethiopia to Nairobi on Sunday before the fatal crash. It is the second Boeing 737 Max 8 to crash in the last few months, as a Lion Air flight crashed in October, killing 189.

President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE temporarily grounded 737 Max 8 and Max 9 planes on Wednesday, joining other world leaders in grounding the plane pending further investigation of the incidents.