New findings on AirAsia plane crash

(Baonghean) - On Thursday, January 29, Indonesian authorities announced new information about the crash of AirAsia flight QZ8501 in December 2014. It is known that this information was taken from the black box found on January 12.

On Thursday, the chief investigator of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee released the data recorded in the black box of the plane that crashed in the Java Sea in December 2014 at a press conference. The investigator said that at the time of the accident, the plane was still in good condition. According to the parameters taken from the black box, the QZ8501 plane was flying at a stable altitude, while the mechanical equipment was still working normally and all crew members were stable.

One of the pieces of debris from flight QZ8501 found off the coast of Borneo, Indonesia. Photo: STR/AFP

However, at the time of the accident, the co-pilot was flying the plane while the main pilot was sitting next to him monitoring the flight. It is known that the co-pilot was a Frenchman named Remy Plesel (45 years old). According to records, Remy Plesel was a former engineer and became a pilot 4 years ago.

Despite the new information, authorities have yet to reach a final conclusion about the accident. According to information received on the sidelines of the press conference, investigators believe that bad weather was the cause of the tragedy. Unfavorable flying conditions may partly explain the cause of the accident, but experts still want to know more about the reaction of the crew and the pilot when the accident occurred.

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee said Wednesday it had submitted a report to the International Civil Aviation Organization, but details of the report were not made public. Meanwhile, Indonesian investigators are still looking into why Flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea while other planes were able to continue their journeys over the area.

On December 28, the Airbus A320, flight number QZ8501, disappeared from radar screens carrying 162 passengers an hour after taking off from the airport in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, bound for Singapore. The search for victims continues despite bad weather conditions. Up to now, rescue teams have found 70 bodies out of a total of 162 missing victims.

Chu Thanh

(According to LeFigaro January 29)