The pilots of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 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 Dec. 28 last year, when the Airbus Group A320 climbed so abruptly that it lost lift and it began falling with warnings blaring in the cockpit, the people said. All 162 on board 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 slowly. 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 each other up, the people said.
While the information helps show how an A320’s flight-protection system could have been bypassed, it does not 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 computerized aircraft are interconnected and turning off one component can affect others, Safety Operating Systems chief executive officer John Cox said in an interview.
“Particularly with an Airbus you don’t do that,” said Cox, a former A320 pilot.
Flight QZ8501 climbed more than 1,524m in less than 30 seconds, rising above the altitude where it was authorized to fly, Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Ertata Lananggalih said in Jakarta on Thursday.
The co-pilot, who had 2,247 hours of flying experience, was at the controls and talking to controllers while the captain, who had 20,537 hours of flying experience, was monitoring, lead investigator Mardjono Siswosuwarno said.
The investigators did not address whether pilots had cut power to the flight augmentation computer system and said they would not release more information on the case.
“About the flight augmentation computer, I can’t deny, nor confirm it,” Lananggalih said yesterday, when asked about the pilots disabling critical computers. “It’s technical and it’s in investigation territory. Currently, the flight augmentation computer is still being further investigated.”
The aircraft was slanting and ascending and there was a stall alarm, he said.
“There was a chime, but again, this is investigation territory,” he said. “Why should we open it for the public, because it’s still being investigated.”
Airbus is barred from commenting on the accident under international investigation treaties, the company’s North American spokesman, Clay McConnell, said in an e-mail.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in