Cause of AirAsia crash: Faulty part ‘major factor’

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1The AirAsia plane crash which occurred on 28 December 2014 is said to have been caused by a Faulty equipment which is said to be a “major factor” in the plane crash that killed all 162 people on board, Indonesian officials say.

The plane’s rudder control system malfunctioned four times during the flight – a fault that occurred 23 times in the preceding year, officials said.

Their report added that the crew’s response contributed to the disaster.

The Airbus A320-200, travelling from Surabaya to Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea on 28 December 2014.

Investigators had initially indicated that stormy weather was a major factor in the crash – however, they now say that this was not a cause.

The new report from the National Transport Safety Committee, released after a year-long investigation, found that the soldering on a tiny electronic part in the system that controlled the rudder was cracked, causing it to send four warning signals to the pilots.

The crew tried to fix the problem by resetting the computer system, but this disabled the autopilot. They then lost control of the plane.

The plane then entered “a prolonged stall condition that was beyond the capability of the flight crew to recover”, the report said.

Maintenance crews were aware of the problem as it had occurred 23 times in the past year, and resetting the system was one of several methods used previously to address it, the report added.

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_86966997_030379814-1The report also said that:

  • Inadequacies in the maintenance system led to “unresolved repetitive faults occurring with shorter intervals”
  • There appeared to be miscommunication between the pilot and co-pilot – at one point, the pilot commanded “pull down” but the plane was ascending
  • At another point, the two men appeared to be pushing their controls in opposite directions

The report does not apportion blame or liability, but is intended to help the industry avoid future accidents.

Since the crash, AirAsia had carried out 51 measures to improve safety standards, the report said.

Meanwhile, an Airbus spokesman said: “Airbus has just received the final accident report. We are now carefully studying its content. With safety being top priority Airbus is fully committed to push the safety track record of our industry even further.”