Co-pilot was in charge of plane when it crashed

Jakarta, January 29

The French co-pilot was at the controls of an AirAsia plane when it crashed into the sea last month after flying through an area of towering clouds, killing all 162 people on board, investigators said today.

The announcement came as fishermen found two more bodies from the crash in waters off the Sulawesi island in central Indonesia, around 1,000 km from where the plane crashed, a search and rescue official said.

Flight QZ8501 went down in stormy weather on December 28 in the Java Sea during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Only 72 bodies have so far been recovered.

Today, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee, which has been analysing the plane’s black boxes, said prior to the crash, the aircraft had climbed fast in an area packed with cumulonimbus —- huge clouds that pilots try to avoid.

They also revealed that the Airbus A320-200’s less experienced French co-pilot, Remi Plesel, was flying the plane when it went down, rather than Captain Iriyanto, a former fighter pilot who had around 20,000 hours of flying time.

“The second-in-command was the pilot flying,” chief investigator Mardjono Siswosuwarno told reporters in Jakarta, disclosing details from a preliminary report into the crash.

He said the captain sat on the left and acted as “the monitoring pilot”.

Gerry Soejatman, a Jakarta-based independent aviation analyst, said that while there was nothing unusual about the co-pilot being at the controls, the question was whether the captain took the right decision when the plane got into trouble. — AFP

Disappearance of MH370 an accident: Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia on Thursday declared the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370 an "accident", clearing the way for the relatives of 239 people, including five Indians, on board to claim compensation nearly 11 months after the tragedy. In a pre-recorded message Malaysia Civil Aviation Chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said, "It is with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that we officially declare Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 an accident." PTI