AirAsia Flight 8501 crashes in the Java Sea

A faulty component and the crew's inadequate response caused an AirAsia A320 to crash into the Java Sea last year, killing all 162 people on board, an Indonesian report said.

Flight QZ8501 plunged into the ocean in stormy weather on December 28, during what was supposed to be a routine flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

The crash of the Airbus A320-200 triggered a huge international search, with ships and aircraft from several nations involved in a lengthy hunt that was hampered by strong currents and bad weather.

The bodies of 56 of those who died have never been found.

In their final report into the accident, Indonesia's official National Transportation Safety Committee said poor maintenance and a fault with the system that helps control the rudder's movement was a major contributing factor to the crash.

Cracked soldering in the component caused it to malfunction and send repeated warning messages to the pilots, it said.

In response, they tried to reset a computer system but in the process turned off the plane's autopilot, sending it into a sharp roll from which they were unable to recover.

"Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft," said the report. The plane went into a "prolonged stall condition that was beyond the capability of the crew to recover", it said.

Investigators said there was miscommunication between the pilots as the plane plunged towards the sea, with the men at one point pushing their control sticks in opposite directions.

Investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said that AirAsia pilots flying Airbus aircraft had not received adequate training for when their planes became severely destabilised, as it was not recommended by the manufacturer. (AFP)


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