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Here is the latest from the ABC with additional links for other news outlets:

AirAsia QZ8501: Investigation into downed flight finds maintenance and crew error to blame


By Indonesia correspondent Samantha Hawley, wires
 Tue 1 Dec 2015, 7:29pm

Photo: Analysis of the plane's black boxes has now been released by Indonesia's Transport Safety Bureau. (Reuters: Antara Photo Agency, file photo)


An investigation into the downing of an AirAsia flight last year has found both maintenance and crew error to blame for the crash.

Flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea during a short flight from Surabaya to Singapore in December 2014, killing all 162 on board.

Analysis of the plane's black boxes has now been released by Indonesia's Transport Safety Bureau, showing unresolved repetitive faults with the aircraft.

A fault with the rudder control system was a major factor in the plane's downing, Indonesian investigators said.

Repeated problems with the 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, Indonesia's official National Transportation Safety Committee said.


Photo: A member of Indonesia's search and rescue team walks past a piece of the plane wreckage. (AFP: Yudha Manx, file photo)

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 messages to the pilots.

When they 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," the report said.
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 report also said the AirAsia plane had the same problem with its rudder system 23 times in the 12 months before the December crash.

ABC/wires
From other news sites:

• The Sydney Morning Herald: Crew's actions blamed for AirAsia crash
  
• Mirror: AirAsia Flight QZ8501 plane crash: Live updates as investigators reveal what caused tragedy that left 162 dead
  
• CNN: Report: Pilot response to equipment malfunction led to Air Asia QZ8501 crash
  
• The Independent (UK): AirAsia flight QZ8501: 'Crew action' caused loss of control of flight that crashed into Java sea killing 162
  
• Daily Mail: AirAsia jet crash which killed all 162 on board was caused by cracked flight computer and 'subsequent crew actions', say investigators
  

   

News



 
2015
 
Publications - Update (01/12/2015)
 

Media Release English / Indonesia

Subject: NTSC Final Investigation Report into Airbus 320-216 - PK-AXC
involving Indonesia Air Asia Company Flight QZ-8501 during flight at Karimata Strait,
Coordinate 3�37'19"S-109�42'41"E - Java Sea on 28 December 2014

 FINAL REPORT (Aviation Division) - RELEASED on DECEMBER 1, 2015
Indonesia Air Asia Company Flight QZ-8501, AIRBUS 320-216 - PK-AXC,
During flight at Karimata Strait - Coordinate 3�37'19"S-109�42'41"E,
Java Sea, December 28, 2014

MTF...P2