Airplane parts of AirAsia reach port in Jakarta, Indonesia (Photo: Reuters / Antara Photo / Zabur Karuru)
A chronic mechanical failure on a faulty rudder system and how the pilots tried to answer are among a number of factors that contributed to the crash of a plane AirAsia last year in Indonesia, which killed all the 162 people on board, they said researchers said on Tuesday (1st).
The Airbus A320 crashed into the sea of Java on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight started in the second largest Indonesian city, Surabaya, bound for Singapore.
Repeated problems caused by rudder control system caused the pilots desativassem the autopilot when the aircraft crossed an area with bad weather before losing control of the plane, said the National Committee for Transportation Safety.
According to the final report, the autopilot was disconnected so that the warning systems were applied as a result of a crack in a welding system that controls the rudder.
The plane began to lose stability after a series of maneuvers the pilots to try to reactivate the system.
"The subsequent actions of the crew caused the plane to stay unmanageable," which caused a "prolonged" loss of aircraft height, which could not be adjusted, the report said.
The final text presented on Tuesday states that the flight control computer has failed four times before the aircraft entered "in prolonged blocking state it was in addition to the crew's ability to be recovered."
The investigation concluded that the stormy weather is not related to the causes of the tragedy.
The QZ8501 AirAsia flight took off from Surabaya on Java island, at dawn on December 28, 2014 with 162 people on board and should have landed in Singapore a few hours later.
Also according to the researchers, there are indications that a circuit breaker has been pulled before the plane crashed - however, found no concrete evidence that this has occurred.
The aircraft three South Koreans were traveling, a British, a French, a Malaysian, a Singaporean and Indonesian 155 between passengers and a crew of seven.
The plane was flying at a stable and within the limits of weight and balance point when the pilot, before losing communication, requested permission from the control tower to climb 32,000 feet to 38,000 to avoid a storm that had found in its path.
At that time, the aircraft flew over the sea south of the island of Borneo.
The control tower gave permission, but the plane turned left, went up to 37,400 feet in 30 seconds and then descended to 32,000 feet for another 30 seconds before starting the deadly fall towards the sea.