Air Asia flight bound for Singapore lost contact with air traffic

Animalize · Jan 21, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

20 January 2015 Last updated at 15:34

AirAsia flight QZ8501 'climbed too fast'

Investigators examine the tail of AirAsia flight QZ8501 in Kumai, 12 January Investigators examining the tail of AirAsia flight QZ8501

The AirAsia flight that crashed in the Java Sea, killing 162 people, climbed too fast before stalling, Indonesia's transport minister has said.

Ignasius Jonan told a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta that flight QZ8501 had ascended at a speed of 6,000ft (1,828m) per minute.

No passenger or fighter jet would attempt to climb so fast, he said.

There were no survivors when the plane crashed on 28 December, en route from Surabaya to Singapore.

The Airbus A320-200 is thought to have encountered difficulties from an approaching storm.

Fewer than one-third of the bodies have been retrieved from the crash area, where debris was scattered across the sea.

'Faster than a fighter'

Citing radar data, Mr Jonan said: "The plane, during the last minutes, went up faster than normal speed... then it stalled."

"I think it is rare even for a fighter jet to be able to climb 6,000ft per minute," he told a House of Representatives commission.

"The average speed of a commercial aircraft is probably between 1,000 and 2,000ft per minute because the aircraft is not designed to soar so fast."

A source familiar with the investigation's initial findings told Reuters news agency last month that radar data appeared to show flight QZ8501 had made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed, possibly pushing the jet beyond its limits.

Indonesian personnel carry a coffin at Surabaya airport, 19 January

A policeman guards fuselage debris inside a storage facility at Kumai port in Pangkalan Bun, 19 January

Last week, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were found.

The fuselage of the plane, believed to hold most of the remaining bodies, has also been located and search teams are now working out how to retrieve it.

Investigators have already said it is unlikely the crash was caused by terrorism.

Black box flight recorders

'New rules'

Mr Jonan also proposed changes to improve aviation safety standards, Reuters news agency reports.

His ministry was recommending pay rises for maintenance crews and safety inspection officials, he was quoted as saying.

Applications for route permits and air transport licences would be moved online in February, he added.

The minister said a number of new rules regarding permits and safety, including health checks for flight crews and air traffic controllers, had already been implemented.

"It is a habit among airlines that they sometimes sell tickets before they have obtained a route permit," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"Now route permits must be obtained four months before the flight and airlines will not be allowed to sell tickets before that."

Request denied

The jet took off from Surabaya at 05:35 local time (22:35 GMT 27 December).

Shortly before it vanished, nearly halfway into the two-hour flight, its pilot contacted air traffic control to request permission to climb to 38,000ft from 32,000ft to avoid big storm clouds - a common occurrence in the area.

But heavy air traffic in the area meant he was not given permission to do so straight away.

When air traffic control tried to contact the plane again, there was no answer. The plane disappeared from radar screens shortly afterwards. It did not issue a distress signal.

A preliminary report on the crash is expected on 28 January.

makapaaa · Jan 21, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...box-suggests-human-error-or-plane-damage.html

Quote:AirAsia QZ8501: radar shows plane 'climbing too fast before stalling', says minister

AFP
1:16PM GMT 20 Jan 2015

The crashed AirAsia QZ8501 flight was climbing at "beyond normal" speed before it apparently stalled, Indonesia's transport minister has said, citing radar data.

The claim came as investigators examining the cockpit voice recorder of the Airbus briefed reporters that they were considering whether human error or problems with the plane caused the accident, having ruled out terrorism.

Flight QZ8501 went down in the Java Sea on December 28 in stormy weather with 162 people on board, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

"In the final minutes, the plane climbed at a speed which was beyond normal," transport minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters, citing radar data.

"The plane suddenly went up at a speed above the normal limit that it was able to climb to. Then it stalled."

Earlier at a parliamentary hearing, he said radar data showed the Airbus A320-200 appeared at one point to be climbing at a rate of 6,000 feet a minute before the crash. There were several other planes in the area at the time.

"I think it is rare even for a fighter jet to be able to climb 6,000 feet per minute," he said. "For a commercial flight, climbing around 1,000 to 2,000 [feet] is maybe already considered extraordinary, because it is not meant to climb that fast."

Indonesian divers have recovered the Airbus A320-200's black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, and so far have found 53 bodies.

The plane's main body – believed to contain the bulk of the victims – was spotted by a navy ship last week, but attempts to reach it in recent days have failed due to bad weather and rough seas.

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), which is probing the crash, said that it will release a preliminary report on January 28.

In initial analysis of the cockpit voice recorder, NTSC investigators said they did found no indication that terrorism had caused the crash and are now looking at other causes.

"We didn't hear any other person, no explosion," investigator Nurcahyo Utomo told reporters, explaining why terrorism had been ruled out.

He added that investigators were now looking at the "possibility of plane damage and human factors," without giving further details.

Indonesia's meteorological agency has said bad weather may have caused the crash. Utomo said investigators would focus on how the systems in place and people responded to the weather, rather than just the conditions themselves.

Investigators are also examining a wealth of information in the flight data recorder, which monitors every major part of the plane and records its altitude and the direction it was flying in.

Another investigator, Ertata Lananggalih, said authorities would not disclose any further details about the contents of the recorders before the release of the preliminary report.

There was a huge international hunt for the crashed plane, involving ships from several countries including the US and China. All but seven of those on board the flight were Indonesian.

singveld · Jan 21, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

why would a ex F16 pilot take the passenger jet beyond fighter climb rate in thunderstorm?

tonychat · Jan 21, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

singveld said:
why would a ex F16 pilot take the passenger jet beyond fighter climb rate in thunderstorm?

something is wrong with the pilot..i already said before..get a holy pig in the cockpit and all will be fine and blessed.

Animalize · Jan 21, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

Indonesia will not make public preliminary AirAsia crash report

Initial report into crash after recovery of black box flight recorders will be restricted for 'consumption of those countries involved' and not for public view

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 1:59pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 6:04pm

Reuters in Jakarta

The recovery mission for the crashed AirAsia plane continues in Pangkalan Bun. Photo: EPA

Indonesian investigators may release some initial findings next week into last month’s crash of any AirAsia passenger jet that killed 162 people, but the full preliminary report will not be made public, a government official said on Wednesday.

The Airbus A320-200 vanished from radar screens on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors.

[video=youtube;hVJllyaZl-Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVJllyaZl-Q[/video]

Data from radar and the aircraft’s two “black box” flight recorders is providing investigators with a clearer picture of what occurred during the final minutes of Flight QZ8501.

Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan on Tuesday told a parliamentary hearing that the plane had climbed faster than normal in its final minutes, and then stalled.

Three days after the crash a source familiar with initial investigations had told Reuters the plane appeared to have made an “unbelievably steep climb” that may have pushed it beyond its performance envelope.

Investigators are expected to submit a preliminary report to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) early next week, in line with ICAO regulations that the preliminary report must be filed within 30 days of the date of the accident.

“One month after the accident we will just make a preliminary report. No comment and no analysis,” Tatang Kurniadi, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Committee, told reporters.

“This will not be exposed to the public. This is for the consumption of those countries that are involved.”

indonesia-malaysia-singapore-accident-aviation-air_47819415.jpg

Indonesian soldiers carry a coffin bearing the remains of 'body number 50'. Photo: AFP

The NTSC will hold a press conference on the AirAsia crash next Wednesday, but it was not clear how much will be disclosed.

The final report of the crash investigation findings, which will be made public, must be filed within a year.

Final minutes

Kurniadi reiterated that investigators have found no evidence of foul play in the disaster.

Transport Minister Jonan on Tuesday gave the first detailed information about the final minutes of Flight QZ8501 based on radar data. Data from the black box flight recorders would give a more detailed picture, Kurniadi said.

At 6.17am on December 28, three minutes after air traffic control unsuccessfully tried to make contact and asked nearby aircraft to try to locate QZ8501, the A320 turned to the left and it began to climb from its altitude of 32,000 feet [9,750 metres], Jonan told a parliamentary hearing.

The rate of the climb increased rapidly within seconds to 6,000 ft a minute, before accelerating further to 8,400 feet a minute and finally 11,100 ft. The aircraft reached 37,600 ft just 54 seconds after it began to climb before it appeared to stall.

indonesia-singapore-malaysia-aviation-airasia-file_47830631.jpg

Indonesian officials examine wreckage from AirAsia flight QZ8501. Photo: AFP

The aircraft began to fall at 6.18am, dropping 1,500 feet in the first 6 seconds before reaching a rate of descent of 7,900 feet per minute until it reached 24,000 ft, at which point it disappeared from the radar.

Pilots and industry observers told reporters that if an aircraft makes a rapid climb and start to lose speed, it would be likely to stall and suffer from a loss of control.

Based on Jonan’s data, there did not appear to have been a controlled descent in the case of QZ8501 and the aircraft appeared to have fallen rapidly before crashing into the sea, they added.

Bad weather in the area has been cited a possible factor in the crash, with the other aircraft close by at that time flying at altitudes of between 34,000 and 39,000 feet.

The investigators were looking into why this was the case, as well as QZ8501 pilots’ reaction to the storms and clouds in the area, according to a source close to the investigation.

Industry experts say that the margin for error at higher altitudes is smaller than at take-off or lower down.

While the A320’s systems usually prevent pilots from doing anything outside usual safe flight parameter, these protections can be disabled in some circumstances, handing control to the pilots and leaving it to manual flying skills.

Animalize · Jan 23, 2015

AirAsia jet's alarms 'screaming' before crash: investigator

AFP
By Olivia Rondonuwu January 21, 2015 1:49 PM

2015-01-19T034649Z_1553220401_GM1EB1J0WD701_RTRMADP_3_INDONESIA-AIRPLANE.JPG

Warning alarms in AirAsia flight QZ8501 were "screaming" as the pilots desperately tried to stabilise the plane just before it plunged into the Java Sea last month, a crash investigator said Wednesday.

The noise of several alarms -- including one that indicated the plane was stalling -- can be heard going off in recordings from the black box in the Airbus A320-200's cockpit, the investigator told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"The warning alarms, we can say, were screaming, while in the background they (the pilot and co-pilot) were busy trying to recover," the investigator said, adding the warnings were going off "for some time".

The investigator, from Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), added that the pilots' voices were drowned out by the sound of the alarms.

The revelation came a day after Indonesian Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan said that the plane had climbed abnormally fast before stalling and plunging into the sea, as it flew on December 28 in stormy weather from Indonesia's Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.

"In the final minutes, the plane climbed at a speed which was beyond normal," the minister told reporters.

Analysts said the AirAsia jet's rapid ascent had echoes of the crash of an Air France jet into the Atlantic in 2009, with the loss of 228 lives.

Air France flight 447 vanished en route from Rio to Paris at night during a storm. The Airbus A330's speed sensors were found to have malfunctioned, and the plane climbed too steeply, causing it to stall.

The investigation into AF447 found that both technical and human error were to blame.

- 'Striking similarities' -

As with the AirAsia disaster, the accident happened in an area around the equator where north and south winds meet, and thunderstorms are common.

"The similarities are pretty striking," Daniel Tsang, founder of Hong Kong-based consultancy Aspire Aviation, told AFP.

So far, just 53 bodies have been recovered following the AirAsia crash.

Divers have been struggling for a week against rough seas and strong currents to reach the plane's main body, which was spotted on the seabed and is thought to contain the bulk of the remaining passengers and crew.

The two black boxes -- the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder -- were recovered last week after a lengthy search, and investigators are examining them.

Investigators have listened to the data from the cockpit voice recorder, and are also looking at a wealth of information from the flight data recorder, which monitors every major part of the plane.

They are focusing on the possibility of human or aircraft error, after ruling out terrorism following an analysis of the cockpit voice recorder.

Committee head Tatang Kurniadi said that the preliminary report into the crash would be completed next week, a month after the accident. He said the full report would not be released publicly but the media would be told some of its contents.

There was a huge international hunt for the crashed plane, involving ships from several countries including the US and China.

All but seven of those on board the flight were Indonesian. The foreign nationals were from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France.

Animalize · Jan 23, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

Six bodies recovered from near crashed AirAsia jet fuselage

Date January 22, 2015 - 9:32PM
Djohan Widjaja

Indonesian rescue personnel unload body bags from a military helicopter in Pangkalan Bun on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Aboard Kri Banda Aceh: Indonesian divers on Thursday found six bodies near the fuselage of an AirAsia jet that crashed last month into the Java Sea, but were unable to enter the wreckage where most of the victims are believed to be trapped, a navy official said.

"We have found six bodies, four of whom were females and two males, all adults," Supriyadi said.

He said they were found among debris, with some still strapped into their seats, not far from the jet's main section.

Rescue personnel unload body bags containing bodies recovered from the underwater wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501. Photo: AFP

They had been flown to Pangkalan Bun town on Borneo island, the search headquarters.

Days of rough weather and poor underwater visibility have hampered navy divers' efforts to recover bodies and lift the main part of the plane off the sea bed.

"It was very dark, visibility was very limited so our diving teams could not enter," Rear Admiral Widodo, commander of the navy's western fleet, told reporters aboard the warship KRI Banda Aceh. "However we still predict we can evacuate all the bodies from there."

Rear Admiral Widodo said rescuers expected to attach giant air bags to the fuselage to lift it to the surface by Friday.

Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors among the 162 people on board the Airbus A320.

A multinational search and rescue operation has recovered 59 bodies so far and located both "black box" flight recorders, which will provide clues as to why the plane crashed.

The cause of AirAsia's first fatal crash is not yet known, though investigators have ruled out foul play.

Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan on Tuesday told a parliamentary hearing that radar data showed the plane had climbed faster than normal in its final minutes, and then stalled.

Three days after the crash a source familiar with initial investigations had told Reuters the plane appeared to have made an "unbelievably steep climb" that may have pushed it beyond its performance envelope.

The National Transport Safety Committee (NTSC), which is responsible for the crash investigations in Indonesia, is set to release some initial findings next week, but its full preliminary report will not be made public.

The final report on the investigation, which will be made public, must be filed within a year.

Reuters, AFP

GarvenDreis · Jan 25, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

Divers enter AirAsia fuselage for first time as six more bodies found

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 24 January, 2015, 3:42am
UPDATED : Saturday, 24 January, 2015, 3:42am

Associated Press in Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia

Rescuers inspect bodybags of crash victims. Photo: EPA

For the first time, Indonesian divers were able yesterday to enter the fuselage of the AirAsia jetliner that crashed last month into the Java Sea and retrieved six bodies, an official said.

The operations chief at the National Search and Rescue Agency, Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, said the divers spotted some more bodies inside the fuselage.

"Today we have evacuated six bodies from inside the fuselage," Supriyadi said yesterday. "Some other bodies are still there but their position among other debris made it difficult for our divers."

A total of 65 bodies have now been recovered from AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which crashed on December 28 with 162 people on board while flying from Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, to Singapore. Authorities believe many of the other bodies are still inside the fuselage.

Rescuers have been struggling with strong currents and poor visibility in an attempt to lift the fuselage of the Airbus A320 and what appears to be the plane's cockpit from the seabed at a depth of 30 metres.

Bad weather is a suspected factor in the crash. The pilots asked to climb to 11,600 metres to avoid threatening clouds, but were denied permission by air traffic controllers because of heavy air traffic.

Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan told the Indonesian parliament earlier this week that radar data showed the plane was climbing at an abnormally high rate, then dropped rapidly and disappeared. No distress signal was sent.

Officials of the National Transportation Safety Committee have ruled out sabotage. Investigators are analysing data from the aircraft's cockpit voice and flight data recorders with advisers from Airbus, the plane's manufacturer.

The head of the transportation safety committee, Tatang Kurniadi, said a full analysis of what went wrong with the plane could take up to a year.

GarvenDreis · Jan 25, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

More bodies recovered as effort to float AirAsia fuselage fails

Date January 24, 2015 - 11:13PM

Indonesian rescue personnel unload a coffin bearing a body recovered from the underwater wreckage of ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 from a military plane on arrival at Surabaya. Photo: AFP

Indonesian salvage teams have failed to raise the fuselage of AirAsia Flight 8501 from the sea bed, but recovered four more bodies from the wreckage of the crashed jet.

The bid to raise the fuselage came a day after divers were able to enter the main section of the plane, which crashed in the Java Sea last month, for the first time.

Difficult weather conditions for the past week had stopped rescuers reaching the main part of the Airbus A320-200 since it was spotted on the seabed by a military vessel earlier this month.

"We were not successful today. The sling snapped off so the main body fell back to the sea floor," said S.B. Supriyadi, a rescue agency official, adding several bodies fell from the fuselage when the piece of wreckage sunk once again.

The operation to lift the main body will resume on Sunday.

The rescue agency official also said a sonar scan had detected an object "suspected to be the cockpit" of the plane about 500 metres away from the fuselage.

But the search teams will prioritise floating the main body before verifying the object suspected to be the cockpit, Supriyadi added.

Just after dawn on Saturday, divers began descending to the sea floor to tie floatation bags to the fuselage, said Rasyid Kacong, the navy official overseeing the lifting operation from onboard the Banda Aceh warship.

Four bodies believed to have come from inside the fuselage were retrieved as the team tried to lift the main section, bringing the total number of bodies recovered to 69, officials said.

The previous day, a jumble of wires and seats floating inside the fuselage prevented the divers from entering further to find more bodies.

"The divers said it was dark inside, the seats were floating about and the wires were like a tangled yarn," Supriyadi said.

The rescuers hope that once the fuselage is lifted, it will be easier to inspect the inside of the main section, he added.

The jet's black boxes - the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder - were recovered last week, and investigators are analysing them.

Flight QZ8501 went down on December 28 in stormy weather, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were 162 people on board.

AFP

GarvenDreis · Jan 27, 2015

Operation to lift AirAsia QZ8501 from seabed fails as rope snaps

Indonesian rescuers fail for second time to lift fuselage of crashed AirAsia QZ8501 from bottom of Java Sea

Indonesian rescuers unload the body of a victim of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 from a Navy helicopter as it arrives at Iskandar military airbase on January 23rd Photo: EPA/ARIO TANOTO

AP
4:21PM GMT 26 Jan 2015

The second attempt to lift the fuselage of the crashed AirAsia jetliner failed Sunday as the wreckage sank back to the ocean floor when a rope linking the lifting balloons broke.

Navy spokesman Manahan Simorangkir said strong current was the main obstacle. The rope had been fastened and linked to a ship, but broke again as the fuselage was lifted.

"We could not fight against nature," Simorangkir said. "We just hope the weather would change and be conducive."

The attempt on Saturday failed because lifting balloons deflated. Divers reached the fuselage for the first time on Friday. Most of the victims are believed to be inside.

Simorangkir said rescuers retrieved one body on Sunday that floated as the fuselage was being raised.

A total of 70 bodies have been discovered from Flight 8501, which crashed Dec. 28 with 162 people on board while flying from Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya, to Singapore.

Dozens of navy divers have been fighting strong current and poor visibility while trying to lift the fuselage from 100-feet-deep waters in the Java Sea. The cockpit has been located about 500 yards away, and the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot are believed to be there.

Bad weather is a suspected factor in the crash. The pilots asked for permission to climb to a higher altitude, but air traffic controllers couldn't allow it because of heavy air traffic. The flight disappeared soon afterward.

Transportation authorities have ruled out sabotage and say a preliminary accident report is expected to be submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organization this coming week.

potato29 · Jan 27, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

singveld said:
why would a ex F16 pilot take the passenger jet beyond fighter climb rate in thunderstorm?

they question shld be how can. is it possible for the A320 to climb at that rate?

GarvenDreis · Jan 28, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

AirAsia probe looks at possible computer glitch, crew response

Date January 27, 2015 - 9:19PM
Siva Govindasamy and Tim Hepher
Reuters

Foreign investigators examine the tail of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 in Kuma. Photo: AFP

Investigators probing the crash of an AirAsia jetliner are examining maintenance records of a key part of its automated control systems, and how the pilots may have handled the plane if it failed, two people familiar with the matter said.

An outage of the twin Flight Augmentation Computers could not have directly caused the December 28 crash, experts say, but without them the pilots would have had to rely on manual flying skills that are often stretched during a sudden airborne emergency.

"There appears to be some issue with the FAC," a person familiar with the investigation said, adding that more information was being sought from the manufacturer and airline.

Indonesia has said the Airbus A320 jet climbed abruptly from its cruising height and then stalled, or lost lift, before plunging out of control into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board.

A second person familiar with the probe said investigators were looking at how the pilots dealt with the chain of events leading up to the crash. Neither person agreed to be identified, because details of the investigation remain confidential.

The pair of computers comprising the A320's FAC system is mainly responsible for controlling rudder movements and helping to keep the airplane stable, as well detecting windshear, or sudden changes in wind speed or direction.

Indonesian magazine Tempo reported a series of maintenance problems with the computerised rudder system of that particular aircraft in the days and months before the loss of Flight QZ8501.

Pictures of wreckage retrieved from the Java Sea provide little evidence that the crash was caused by problems with the rudder.

But, after partially analysing data from the "black box" voice and flight data recorders, investigators have extended their interest to the FAC computers, the two people familiar with the probe said.

A problem with the system may help explain another key element of the crash - why the jet did not automatically correct itself before entering into a stall, even if accidentally encouraged to do so by crew.

Manual control

Airbus jets are designed to provide "flight envelope protection", making it virtually impossible to push them outside safe design limits when operating in normal flying mode.

But when the computers are unable to perform their tasks, control is automatically handed to the pilots who must fall back on training and fly manually, in so-called "alternate" mode.

A failure of both FAC computers - one primary, the other back-up - is one of those rare circumstances that can cause the usual stall protection to trip.

That alone would not explain why such a jet might crash and it is unlikely to be the only scenario being considered by investigators.

It was not clear when any fault might have developed, but it would, if confirmed, be one possible explanation of how the plane got into the state where the Indonesian pilot and French first officer would need to take over and display skill under stress.

"Stall protection can trip in very exceptional circumstances and the pilots need to react to that," an A320 pilot said, asking not to be named since he is not allowed to talk to media.

Airbus said it would not comment on the investigation or the crashed jet, but stressed that this type of aircraft is designed to be flown manually even when the safety buffer is not available.

"The aircraft remains fully controllable if you lose the two FACs," an Airbus spokesman said by email.

"The consequence of losing the two FACs is that the pilot has to fly manually like a conventional aircraft, which by definition has no flight envelope protection."

Preliminary report due

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee declined to comment. The agency will submit its preliminary report to the International Civil Aviation Organisation later this week, but said on Tuesday it would not include an analysis of the data from the black boxes.

AirAsia, referring to the jet by its 5-letter registration, said it could not comment on the aircraft or the investigation.

"We are unable to comment on technical matters related to PK-AXC at this time as we would like to avoid adding to speculation while the investigation by the NTSC is still ongoing," an AirAsia spokeswoman said by email.

In October, airlines were given four years to upgrade FACs on A320 jets at the next repair after a design review. An emergency European safety directive in December instructed crew how to disable computerised flight protections themselves but only in extremely rare circumstances.

There is no indication Airbus or regulators have identified anything that would raise wider concerns about the safety of the 6,100 A320-family aircraft in operation.

Under aviation rules, Airbus must notify operators worldwide if it discovers anything that could affect the safety of the whole fleet and it has not so far done so.

But investigators will want to examine what caused the plane to slip out of its usual safely cocooned flying mode, how it entered a stall and what actions the crew took in response.

Some pilot unions, including those at Air France after an A330 jet crashed in the Atlantic in 2009, have argued in the past that Airbus systems are so complex that pilots can be overwhelmed when things go wrong. The jetmaker denies this.

GarvenDreis · Jan 28, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

AirAsia QZ8501: Nearly 100 victims still missing as fuselage recovery abandoned

Indonesian military calls off AirAsia wreckage recovery after saying badly damaged fuselage was too difficult to lift and no more bodies had been located

A section of the Air Asia Airbus 320 arrives on a salvage ship at Kumal port, Borneo Photo: Achmad Ibrahim/AP

By Andrew Marszal, and AFP
11:12AM GMT 27 Jan 2015

Efforts to recover the wreckage of AirAsia QZ8501 have been called off after failing to find any more bodies inside the fuselage, despite 92 victims still being unaccounted for.

The Indonesian navy said the fuselage of the jet, which crashed into the Java Sea last month, was too badly damaged to lift, and that no more bodies had been located.

Salvage teams had been using giant inflatable bags to try to raise the fuselage, but the fuselage split in two and sank to the seabed on Sunday after a sling holding it snapped during a lifting operation.

"All of our forces are being pulled out," said Rear Admiral Widodo, a navy official overseeing the search and rescue operation. "We apologise to the families of the victims."

So far just 70 bodies have been recovered, and the national search and rescue agency said it would try to find more victims in smaller-scale operations.

Flight QZ8501 went down on December 28 in stormy weather with 162 people on board, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Search and rescue teams failed repeatedly in recent days to lift the main body of the Airbus A320-200, which is lying in the sea at a depth of around 98 feet, where officials had hoped to find the majority of the victims.

"We will continue to try fulfil the hopes of the victims' relatives, but the operation will not be a large-scale one," said Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.

Military spokesman Fuad Basya said that the plane's body was "destroyed".

"It was soaked in seawater for a while so when we lifted it it was torn apart," he said. "We can no longer find any more bodies."

There was a huge international hunt for the AirAsia jet, involving ships from countries including the United States and China. But following the discovery of the fuselage by a Singaporean vessel, most foreign assistance was pulled out.

The jet's black boxes – the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder – have been recovered, and investigators are analysing them. A preliminary report into the accident should be completed this week.

Indonesian transport minister Ignasius Jonan said last week that the plane climbed abnormally fast before stalling and plunging into the sea.

One crash investigator described how the plane's warning alarms were "screaming" in the moments before the crash as the pilots desperately sought to stabilise the aircraft.

Just moments before the plane disappeared off the radar, the pilot had asked to climb to avoid a major storm but was not immediately granted permission due to heavy air traffic.

Indonesia's meteorological agency has said weather could have caused the accident, but only the black boxes will be able to give definitive answers.

GarvenDreis · Jan 29, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

Hunt for AirAsia crash victims to resume without Indonesian military

Date January 28, 2015 - 3:54PM
Jewel Topsfield
Fairfax foreign correspondent

A crew member of an Indonesian Air Force Super Puma helicopter looks out a window during a search operation for the crashed AirAsia Flight 8501 over the Java Sea.

The hunt for the remaining 92 victims of the AirAsia crash will resume on Saturday despite the Indonesian military withdrawing from the search.

The head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, Bambang Soelistyo, said divers would rest for a couple of days before the search continued at the weekend.

The agency, known as Basarnas, would decide whether to call off the search seven days after it resumed on Saturday.

Indonesian rescue personnel unload a coffin bearing a body recovered from the underwater wreckage of ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 from a military plane on arrival at Surabaya earlier this month. Photo: AFP

Mr Soelistyo said the focus would be to find the remaining bodies rather than the fuselage of the plane.

AirAsia flight 8501 plummeted into the Java Sea on December 28, less than an hour into a flight from Surabaya - Indonesia's second largest city - to Singapore.

All 162 passengers and crew were killed in the aviation disaster, which is believed to have been caused by turbulent weather.

Seventy bodies and the flight data and voice recorders - known as black boxes - have been recovered from the wreckage.

The decision by the military to withdraw from the search means the fuselage of the plane, which rescuers have unsuccessfully attempted to lift from the ocean bed, is likely to remain on the ocean floor.

With Karuni Rompies

GarvenDreis · Jan 29, 2015

Hopes fade of finding more victims from the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash

Date January 29, 2015 - 4:31AM

Relatives of missing AirAsia passengers grieve in Indonesia. Photo: AFP

Jakarta: Indonesia's search and rescue agency say 92 victims still missing after an AirAsia plane crash could have been swept away or be lost on the seabed after no more bodies were found in the jet's fuselage.

Flight QZ8501 went down in the Java Sea on December 28 in stormy weather with 162 people on board, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

So far just 70 bodies have been recovered.

Authorities had hoped that the majority of the passengers and crew would be in the plane's main section, but after several days searching the fuselage, they said no more bodies could be located.

"They could be on the seabed, or have been swept away by waves and currents," said S.B. Supriyadi, a search and rescue agency official who has been co-ordinating the hunt.

The military, which has provided the bulk of personnel and equipment for the operation, withdrew from the search on Tuesday due to the failure to find more victims, and after several failed attempts to lift the damaged fuselage.

The civilian search and rescue agency has said it will push on with the hunt for at least a week, with three aircraft, several ships, and divers.

While Supriyadi suggested it would be tough to find any more victims, agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said he was "optimistic".

He added that search and rescue teams were being given two days' break and would push on with the hunt afterwards.

The agency said that the main aim of the operation is to find more bodies not to lift the plane's fuselage, which has split in two.

However, analysts have reacted with surprise to the suggestion that the rest of the wreckage might be left on the seabed, as retrieving it would help with the investigation into the crash.

The jet's black boxes - the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder - have been recovered, and investigators are analysing them.

A preliminary report into the accident is being completed this week.

Just moments before the plane disappeared off the radar, the pilot had asked to climb to avoid a major storm but was not immediately granted permission due to heavy air traffic.

AFP

GarvenDreis · Jan 29, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

One more victim of AirAsia QZ8501 identified

Rabu, 28 Januari 2015 20:54 WIB

20150112antarafoto-pemindahan-ekor-pesawat-110115-pras-3.jpg

Photo document of the investigation team observed the tail AirAsia QZ8501. (ANTARA/Prasetyo Utomo)

Surabaya (ANTARA News) - The Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team identified the body of an AirAsia QZ8501 passenger on Wednesday.

Head of the DVI team Senior Commissioner Budiyono said here on Wednesday that the body of the victim, which was labeled B053, was identified as Marianne Claudia Ardhi, an 11-year-old female who was a resident of Surabaya, East Java province.

The body was identified by matching primary data with the victims DNA.

The team also used footage from CCTV cameras to identify characteristics of the victim, including what clothes she was wearing during the flight.

According to flight data, Ardhi had boarded the ill-fated aircraft with all members of her family, who are still missing.

She was heading to Singapore from Surabaya with her father Reggy Ardhi, mother Caroline Harwon Lioe, and two siblings, Michele Clemency Ardhi and Jayden Cruze Ardhi.

The DVI team collected the victims DNA by taking samples from unwashed clothes from her home as her family members have yet to be found.

So far, 32 days since AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed, as many as 56 bodies of passengers have been identified, while DVI team is still in the process of identifying the bodies of 14 others.

The AirAsia Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people had gone missing on the morning of December 28 after losing contact with air traffic control on its way from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore.

Flight QZ8501 lost contact after the pilot sought permission to climb to 38 thousand feet from 32 thousand feet to avoid stormy weather over the sea between Bangka Belitung and West Kalimantan.

The aircraft carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members took off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 5:36 a.m. local time and lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control at 6:17 a.m. local time.

The plane, piloted by Captain Iriyanto and First Officer (FO) Remi Emmanuel Plesel, was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. local time.

Seven foreigners were among the passengers of the missing jet. The foreign nationals comprised three Koreans, a Singaporean, a Briton, a Malaysian, and the French FO.

***4***

Reporting by Abdul Malik Ibrahim

GarvenDreis · Jan 30, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

French co-pilot Remi Plesel was at controls of doomed AirAsia jet QZ8501

PUBLISHED : Friday, 30 January, 2015, 3:19am
UPDATED : Friday, 30 January, 2015, 3:19am

Reuters in Jakarta

Co-pilot Remi Plesel in front of an AirAsia plane. Photo: AFP

The French co-pilot of an AirAsia passenger jet that crashed last month was at the controls just prior to the accident, Indonesia's lead investigator said yesterday.

Data from the black box flight data recorder has provided the accident probe with a "pretty clear picture" of what happened in the last moments of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, but officials offered few details.

The Airbus A320 vanished from radar screens in bad weather on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. All 162 people on board were killed.

"The second-in-command, popularly known as the co-pilot, who usually sits to the right of the cockpit. At the time, he was flying the plane," said head National Transport Safety Committee (NTSC) investigator Mardjono Siswosuwarno, referring to first officer Remi Plesel.

"The captain, sitting to the left, was the pilot monitoring."

Captain Iriyanto, 53, was believed to have taken over control of the aircraft from Plesel when it started to ascend and then descend sharply, officials said.

The cause of AirAsia's first fatal crash was still unknown. Investigators said the cockpit voice and flight data recorders showed that the plane had been cruising at a stable altitude before the accident. The aircraft was in sound condition when it took off, and all crew members were properly certified, they said.

"The plane was flying before the incident within the limits of its weight and balance envelope," Mardjono said. "While the flight crew had valid licences and medical certificates."

Indonesia has previously said the aircraft climbed abruptly from its cruising height and then stalled, or lost lift, before plunging out of control into the sea.

NTSC chief Tatang Kurniadi said Indonesia submitted its preliminary report on the crash to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on Wednesday. The report, which has not been made public, was purely factual and contained no analysis, he said, adding that the full, final report would take at least six to seven months to complete.

On Wednesday Indonesia said the search for dozens of victims still unaccounted for could end within days if no more bodies were found. A multinational operation has found 70 bodies in the Java Sea and had hoped to find more after finding the fuselage. But days of rough weather hampered navy divers' efforts.

Leckmichamarsch · Jan 30, 2015

if you value your life, dun fly Airasia as they use ex fighter pilot from Indonesia and negro FT....... a disasterous combination plus money grabber Tony Fernadez

ByTheWay · Jan 30, 2015

Leckmichamarsch said:
if you value your life, dun fly Airasia as they use ex fighter pilot from Indonesia and negro FT....... a disasterous combination plus money grabber Tony Fernadez

By the way if u value your life, also do not take flights with Tiongs in it as u will end up as fish food.

TEASER-First-time-flyer-opens-emergency-exit-on-plane-to-get-some-air.jpg

GarvenDreis · Jan 31, 2015

Re: Recording of last moments of QZ8501 - comms bet Air Traffic Control and First Off

AirAsia disaster: pilots disabled computers moments before crash

Date January 30, 2015 - 10:13AM
Herdaru Purnomo

Jakarta: The pilots of AirAsia flight 8501 cut power to a critical computer system that normally prevents planes from going out of control shortly before it plunged into the Java Sea, two people with knowledge of the investigation said.

The action appears to have helped trigger the events of December 28, when the Airbus A320 climbed so abruptly that it lost lift and it began falling with warnings blaring in the cockpit, the people said. All 162 aboard were killed.

The pilots had been attempting to deal with alerts about the flight augmentation computers, which control the A320's rudder and also automatically prevent it from going too slow. After initial attempts to address the alerts, the flight crew cut power to the entire system, which is comprised of two separate computers that back up each other, the people said.
Wreckage from AirAsia flight 8501.

Wreckage from AirAsia flight 8501. Photo: AFP

Investigators are still trying to determine why the pilots would cut power by pulling a circuit breaker in the cockpit.

While the information helps show how a normally functioning A320's flight-protection system could have been bypassed, it doesn't explain why the pilots pulled the plane into a steep climb, the people said. Even with the computers shut off, the pilots should have been able to fly the plane manually, they said.

Airbus discourages pilots from cutting power to systems because electronics in the highly computerised aircraft are interconnected and turning off one component can effect others, John Cox, a former A320 pilot who is now a safety consultant, said in an interview.

Head of Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee Tatang Kurniadi shows the recovered Cockpit Voice Recorder. Photo: AP

"Particularly with an Airbus you don't do that," said Mr Cox, chief executive officer of Washington-based industry consultant Safety Operating Systems.

Flight 8501 climbed more than 1,524 metres in less than 30 seconds, rising above the altitude where it was authorised to fly, Ertata Lananggalih, an investigator with Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, said in Jakarta on Thursday.

The co-pilot, with 2247 hours of flying experience, was at the controls and talking to controllers while the captain, who had 20,537 hours, was monitoring, said Mardjono Siswosuwarno, the lead investigator of the crash. The account was the first description of the last moments of the flight.

Wreckage of part of the ill-fated AirAsia Flight 8501 that crashed in the Java Sea, at Kumai port in Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia. Photo: AP

The investigators didn't address whether pilots had cut power to the flight augmentation computer system and said they wouldn't release more information on the case.

From a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet, the single-aisle A320 climbed to 37,400 feet as pilots probably tried to avoid bad weather, Mr Lananggalih said. The aircraft then descended slowly for three minutes before it disappeared, he said.

"The pilots were conscious when the manoeuvre happened," he said. "They were trying to control the airplane."

Such an abrupt climb would almost certainly cause a rapid loss of speed and a "very pronounced stall," Mr Cox said.

The aircraft, operated by the Indonesian affiliate of Malaysia-based AirAsia, disappeared from radar en route to Singapore from Surabaya.

Indonesia won't release a preliminary report on its investigation into Flight 8501 because fact-findings could change rapidly, Tatang Kurniadi, head of the commission, said on Thursday. Indonesia sent the preliminary findings to all countries in the investigation on January 28, Mr Kurniadi said.

All Airbus models produced since the 1980s are designed to prevent pilot errors from causing crashes. The planes are controlled by multiple flight computers, which limit pilots from overly steep turns or getting too slow.

In the event of a malfunction or loss of power, the flight protections will shut down and leave the pilots to fly the plane manually. That appears to be what happened before flight 8501 entered the steep climb and stalled, the two people said.

Indonesian authorities have so far recovered at least 70 bodies. Investigators still haven't managed to lift the jet's fuselage. The tail section of the plane has been retrieved. Indonesia's military pulled out of the search this week.

The cockpit voice recorder captured the pilots' voices and no explosion was heard, Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator with the committee, said last week. The flight-data recorder captured 1200 parameters and the voice-recorder captured the last two hours and four minutes of the flight, the investigators said. After studying data from the black boxes, authorities ruled out terrorism as a factor that brought down the plane.

Bloomberg

Air Asia flight bound for Singapore lost contact with air traffic

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (InfP)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian

Alfrescian (Inf)

Alfrescian (Inf)

Similar threads