Faulty part caused 2014 AirAsia crash; investigators

1 December 2015 08:33 am

A fault with the rudder control system and crew actions were today blamed for the AirAsia jet crash that killed all 162 people on board in the Java Sea last year, Daily Mail reported today.

Indonesian investigators has said repeated problems with the computer system led to the pilots disengaging the autopilot in stormy weather in a bid to fix the situation and then losing control of the Airbus A320-200.

In their final report into the crash, investigators said the soldering on the Rudder Travel Limiter system – which helps control the rudder's movement – was cracked, leading it to send repeated warning systems to the pilots.

The solder joint had malfunctioned repeatedly, including four times during the flight and 23 times the previous year, the report found.

When the pilot's received the fourth warning, the pilots pulled circuit-breakers on part of the aircraft's control system in a bid to reset the system.

This turned off the autopilot, and the plane then started to roll, the report said.

'Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft,' said the report by Indonesia's official National Transportation Safety Committee.

The plane went into a 'prolonged stall condition that was beyond the capability of the crew to recover', it said.

It added the flight data recorders did not indicate the weather had affected the aircraft.  

The Airbus A320 aircraft crashed less than half-way into a two-hour flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore on December 28 last year.

Two months later, Indonesian divers found the body of the French co-pilot in the front part of the fuselage during a search operation.