AIRASIA QZ8501 PLANE CRASH - Radar data shows 'unbelievably steep climb' before crash

AirAsia flight QZ8501: Radar data shows 'unbelievably steep climb' before crash

Radar data being examined by investigators appeared to show that AirAsia Flight QZ8501 made an “unbelievably” steep climb before it crashed, possibly pushing it beyond the Airbus A320's limits.

The data was transmitted before the aircraft disappeared from the screens of air traffic controllers in Jakarta on Sunday, said a source familiar with the probe's initial findings.

“So far, the numbers taken by the radar are unbelievably high. This rate of climb is very high, too high. It appears to be beyond the performance envelope of the aircraft,” he said.

The source added that the data on which those assumptions had been made were incomplete. Colleagues and friends of the Indonesian captain on board have described him as an experienced and professional pilot.

The first victims arrived on land in coffins in Indonesia today

The preliminary findings sharpen the focus on the role bad weather and the crew's reaction to storms and clouds in the area had to play in the plane's crash into the Java Sea, which killed all 162 people on board.

Finding the six-year-old plane's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR), more commonly known as black boxes, was vital to complement the radar data already available.

“With the CVR and FDR, we can establish what went on in the cockpit and what was going on with the aircraft. We can conclude if the radar information is accurate,” added the source.

At 6.12 am on Sunday, 36 minutes after taking off from Surabaya's Juanda Airport on a flight to Singapore, the pilot asked for permission to climb to 38,000ft from 32,000ft and deviate to the left to avoid bad weather.

A child writes a post-it note on a board of well wishes for the passengers at Changi airport in Singapore

Two minutes later, Jakarta responded by asking QZ8501 to go left seven miles and climb to 34,000ft. There was no response from the cockpit. The aircraft was still detected by the ATC's radar before disappearing at 6.18 am.

An image that was reportedly leaked from AirNav Indonesia, which manages the country's air space, and shared on several websites, appeared to show QZ8501 at an altitude of 36,300ft and climbing at a speed of 353 knots.

The source declined to confirm if that image was accurate and officials from AirNav Indonesia declined to comment.

Two veteran pilots told Reuters that, if accurate, the image and information released so far pointed to the fact that the aircraft may have climbed suddenly and then lost speed.

This can result in the aircraft stalling in mid-air before plunging to the sea, they said.

An Indonesian Navy helicopter assists in the search for debris from AirAsia flight QZ8501 near Batam, south of Singapore

One pilot explained that an A320 would cruise at a speed of around Mach 0.78 while at an altitude of 32,000ft. That translates into roughly 516 knots.

“If you encounter turbulence, you go slower at what we call the turbulence penetration speed to get through it. If you climb to avoid turbulence, you slow down to have a better climb rate. That could be around Mach 0.76,” he said. “But if you climb suddenly and start to lose speed, you will stall.”

The source close to the probe said other aircraft in the area at the time of the crash were flying at higher altitudes. Aircraft tracking website flightradar24.com said that they were at between 34,000 and 39,000 feet.

“We know that there was severe local weather and big clouds. But they (the other planes) were higher and did not appear to encounter any major problems. We want to look into that too,” added the source.

Indonesian military personnel carry coffins of victims recovered from the ill-fated Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501, upon their arrival at the military airbase in Surabaya, East Java, after being flown in from Pangkalan Bun, the town with the nearest airstrip to the crash site in Central KalimantanJUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty Images

A coffin of a victim of AirAsia flight QZ8501 is transferred from a local hospital in Pangkalan Bun, the town with the nearest airstrip to the crash site of AirAsia flight QZ8501, in Central KalimantanGetty Images

Indonesian national search and rescue agency (BASARNAS) members and Indonesian Air Force crew carry a dead body from a helicopter, during search and rescue operations for the crashed AirAsia plane, at Iskandar Military Airport, in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, IndonesiaEPA/BAGUS INDAHONO

Industry sources told Reuters that there could be parallels between this incident and the crash of Air France flight AF447 in 2009.

The investigation into that Airbus A330 showed that the co-pilot lost speed readings due to icing on the airframe.

His panic reaction meant that he kept trying to climb despite repeated stall warnings, and the crew failed to recognise the situation, eventually sending the aircraft plunging into the Atlantic.

Incidents like these show that the margin for error at higher altitudes is smaller than at takeoff or lower down, say industry experts.

They add that the A320's systems usually prevent pilots from doing anything outside usual safe flight parameters. But these protections can be disabled in some circumstances, handing control to the pilots and leaving it to manual flying skills.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/airasia-flight-qz8501-radar-data-shows-unbelievably-steep-climb-before-crash-9951797.html

AIRASIA QZ8501 PLANE CRASH - First bodies returned to airport

31 December 2014 Last updated at 10:57

First bodies returned to airport

The first two bodies from the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash have arrived back in the Indonesian city of Surabaya, where relatives are waiting.

Next of kin have been asked for DNA samples to help identify the victims.

The Airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people from Surabaya to Singapore, disappeared on Sunday and remains were located in the sea on Tuesday.

The authorities say seven bodies have been retrieved, but bad weather is hampering further salvage efforts.

A public memorial will be held in Surabaya on Wednesday evening local time, and the governor of East Java province has told the BBC that all New Year's Eve celebrations have been cancelled.

On board the plane were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew.

It is not yet clear what happened to the plane but its last communication was a request from air traffic control to climb to avoid bad weather. The pilot did not respond when given permission.

A three-day search culminated on Tuesday with the discovery of remains including aircraft parts, luggage and the bodies in the Karimata Strait, south-west of the town of Pangkalan Bun in the Indonesian part of Borneo.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said it had now been narrowed, with all assets involved in the search being moved to two areas where the aircraft could be.

Haidar Fauzie holds up a picture of his daughter, a flight attendant on QZ8501

A tent for taking DNA samples has been set up near the airport at Surabaya

Wind and rain

The bodies were flown to Surabaya's Juanda airport on Wednesday afternoon from a hospital in Pangkalan Bun, where they had been sent from the crash site.

Another five bodies are reported to be on board a ship on their way to a harbour near Pangkalan Bun.

Four of the seven bodies are male and three female, one of them a flight attendant.

One search and rescue agency official, Tatang Zaenudin, said one of the bodies was wearing a life jacket but this has not been confirmed.

Pilot's friend: "He was very professional and experienced and a humble man"

But strong winds and 2m waves have slowed down the recovery of bodies and debris, with helicopters mostly grounded and divers prevented from searching the waters.

Ships already in place are continuing the search. Mr Fernandes said they were expecting to operate round the clock.

The weather is forecast to deteriorate further, with heavy rains until Friday.

Next of kin of passengers and crew have been asked for DNA samples to help identify the bodies when they come in.

The BBC's Alice Budisatrijo in Surabaya says concerns are growing that the remains will be too difficult to identify after more than three days in the water.

Officials in Surabaya said a public announcement would be made as soon as any remains were identified.

Relatives of victims have been regularly praying in the Surabaya crisis centre

Detailed information will be used to help with identifying victims once they are found and brought ashore

The search is now focused on the area of sea where the plane is believed to have crashed

On Tuesday Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised a "massive search by the ships and helicopters" with the focus on recovering the bodies.

The call came hours after the first debris was spotted in the sea, along with a shadow under the water.

However, Mr Fernandes described reports that a large object had been detected by sonar as speculation.

"[The searchers] feel more comfortable that they are beginning to know where it is, but there is no confirmation... no sonar... some visual identification, but nothing confirmed," he said.

The Associated Press news agency quoted one official as saying the bodies of victims could end up being washed up on beaches.

"It seems all the wreckage found has drifted more than 50km from yesterday's location," Vice Air Marshal Sunarbowo Sandi said.

Pictures of debris and bodies were shown on Indonesian TV to distraught relatives waiting at Surabaya's Juanda international airport.

Those watching the pictures were visibly shocked, with some collapsing.

The search is being led by Indonesia but is a multinational effort. Singapore has sent ships equipped with sensors to detect pings that may be emitted from the plane's black boxes.

Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are also involved, while the US destroyer USS Sampson has been sent to the zone.

AirAsia previously had an excellent safety record and there were no fatal accidents involving its aircraft.

Are you, or is someone you know, affected by this story? Do you know any of the passengers on the AirAsia flight? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with any information. Please leave a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30641554

AIRASIA QZ8501 PLANE CRASH - Body with life jacket hints plane had time before it hit water

AirAsia: Body with life jacket hints plane had time before it hit water

Reuters | Dec 31, 2014, 01.04 PM IST

SURABAYA/JAKARTA: A body recovered on Wednesday from the crashed AirAsia plane was wearing a life jacket, an official with Indonesia's search and rescue agency said, raising questions about how the disaster unfolded.

Seven bodies have been recovered from the sea, some fully clothed, which could indicate the Airbus A320-200 was intact when it hit the water. That would support a theory that it suffered an aerodynamic stall.

The fact that one person put on a life jacket would appear to indicate those on board had at least some time before the aircraft hit the water, or after it hit the water and before it sank.​

"The fact that the debris appears fairly contained suggests the aircraft broke up when it hit the water, rather than in the air," said Neil Hansford, a former pilot and chairman of consultancy firm Strategic Aviation Solutions.


A relative shows a photo of four members of a family who were passengers of AirAsia Flight 8501, at the crisis center at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya. (AP photo)

And yet the pilots did not issue a distress signal. The plane disappeared after it failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic.

"This morning, we recovered a total of four bodies and one of them was wearing a life jacket," Tatang Zaenudin, an official with the search and rescue agency, told Reuters.

He declined to speculate on what the find might mean.


Members of the Indonesia marines unload their diving equipment as they arrive at Pangkalan Bun air base in Central Kalimantan on December 31, 2014, to join the operation to find the missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501. (AFP photo)

Hernanto, head of the search and rescue agency in Surabaya, said rescuers believed they had found the plane on the sea bed with a sonar scan in water about 30 to 50 metres (100 to 165 feet) deep. The black box flight data and cockpit voice recorder has yet to be found.

Authorities in Surabaya were making preparations to receive and identify bodies, including arranging 130 ambulances to take victims to a police hospital and collecting DNA from relatives.

"We are praying it is the plane so the evacuation can be done quickly," Hernanto said.

Most of the people on board were Indonesians. No survivors have been found.


Republic of Singapore Air Force personnel survey the waters during a search and locate operation for the missing AirAsia QZ8501 plane at an undisclosed search area. (Reuters photo)

Officials said waves two to three metres (six to nine feet) high and winds were hampering the hunt for wreckage and preventing divers from searching the crash zone.

"The fact that the debris appears fairly contained suggests the aircraft broke up when it hit the water, rather than in the air," said Neil Hansford, a former pilot and chairman of consultancy firm Strategic Aviation Solutions.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his priority was retrieving the bodies.

Widodo, speaking in Surabaya on Tuesday after grim images of the scene in the Java Sea were broadcast on television, said AirAsia would pay an immediate advance of money to relatives, many of whom collapsed in grief when they saw the television pictures from the search.


A crew member of Indonesian navy's CN-235 airplane prays prior to the start of a search operation 
for the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 at the airport in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Island, Indonesia, on December 30, 2014. (AP photo)

AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes has described the crash as his "worst nightmare".

About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search.

Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to pick up pings from the black boxes, which contain cockpit voice and flight data recorders.


Indonesian President Joko Widodo (C) addresses the media after meeting with family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501, at the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya on December 30, 2014. (AFP photo)

BAD WEATHER

The plane was travelling at 32,000 feet (9,753 metres) and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet. When air traffic controllers granted permission for a rise to 34,000 feet a few minutes later, they received no response.

Online discussion among pilots has centred on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have stalled.

Investigators are focusing initially on whether the crew took too long to request permission to climb, or could have ascended on their own initiative earlier, said a source close to the inquiry, adding that poor weather could have played a part as well.

A Qantas pilot with 25 years of experience flying in the region said the discovery of the debris field relatively close to the last known radar plot of the plane pointed to an aerodynamic stall. One possibility is that the plane's instruments iced up, giving the pilots inaccurate readings.

The Indonesian captain, a former air force fighter pilot, had 6,100 flying hours under his belt and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, said the airline, which is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia.

Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry and spooked travellers.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing in March on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French.

The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/AirAsia-Body-with-life-jacket-hints-plane-had-time-before-it-hit-water/articleshow/45701099.cms

AIRASIA QZ8501 PLANE CRASH - Debris Found Including Bodies of Flight QZ8501 (VIDEO)

By ViralNewsHD

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X-O0kI35FE

AIRASIA QZ8501 PLANE CRASH - 'Unique weather' may have caused plane crash, says CEO

AirAsia flight QZ8501: 'Unique weather' may have caused plane crash, says CEO

December 31, 2014 - 1:05AM

Michael Bachelard

Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax Media

The AirAsia chief executive whose plane crashed on Sunday killing 155 passengers and seven crew has told Indonesian President Joko Widodo he believes the blame can be put squarely on bad weather.

CEO Tony Fernandes said his company would pay an immediate advance of money to families bereaved by the tragedy, and that AirAsia would not run away from its future obligations to them.

"The weather in south-east Asia is bad at the moment": AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes (centre). Photo: AP

Mr Joko said his priority was to get the bodies and wreckage of flight QZ8501 off the bottom of the Karimata Strait as quickly as possible so victims can be identified and returned to their families. He has instructed search and rescue agencies to deploy all available ships and aircraft to speed the task.

Speaking of the families of the passengers and crew, he said: "We also feel the loss from this tragedy".

Six bodies were recovered before night fell on Tuesday, and the grim task will recommence at first light on Wednesday.

"We also feel the loss from this tragedy": Indonesian President Joko Widodo (centre). Photo: AFP

Mr Fernandes said the "black box" flight cockpit recorder, which should provide crucial clues as to the cause of the tragedy, had not yet been located. He was confident that it would be. 

While saying it would be "improper" to speculate on a cause, Mr Fernandes said he had spoken with the Indonesian President "about some of the information that we [AirAsia] have about what could have gone wrong".

He then added that there were "some very unique weather conditions" in the area at the time.

Click for more photos

AirAsia QZ8501 search continues

Authorities continue to search for victims and the black box of AirAsia flight QZ8501, as debris is spotted and victims are found. Photo: AFP

"We cannot make any assumptions about what went wrong. All I can say is that the weather in south-east Asia is bad at the moment," he said.

Referring to floods in Malaysia and Thailand, he suggested that climate change may have played a part in more dangerous conditions for air travel: "There's a lot of rain, so that is something we need to look at carefully because the weather is changing. The weather is changing".

Standing outside the Surabaya airport facility set up to cater for about 200 grieving families, Mr Fernandes said AirAsia would advance money "straight away" to the victims' families, and "will not run away from any of our obligations or hide  behind any conventions". The grief stricken families, who had only hours earlier learned about the certain deaths of their loved ones, were "an amazing group".

"Many of them say they will continue to fly on AirAsia," he said.

The airline's bookings were still strong and he would "continue our business as normal". There had been no suggestion from Mr Joko about ramifications against the company in Indonesia, and it was too early to talk about operational changes as a result of the company's first crash in 13 years of flying.

"I have full confidence in my fleet and crew ... in our operation in Indonesia and elsewhere," Mr Fernandes said.

Mr Joko said "ships and helicopters, from the sea and air, will conduct a massive search" of the area.

The President thanked the search and rescue crews and also other countries that had provided assistance, including Australia.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/airasia-flight-qz8501-unique-weather-may-have-caused-plane-crash-says-ceo-20141230-12fs40.html

AIRASIA QZ8501 PLANE CRASH - Leading Theories About What Caused Plane to Go Down

AirAsia Crash: Leading Theories About What Caused Plane to Go Down

Dec 30, 2014, 1:33 PM ET

By MEGHAN KENEALLY

The prospect that a small explosion caused AirAsia flight QZ8501 to crash is one theory being considered to explain the plane crash, an aviation expert told ABC News.

Jim Nance, a former Air Force pilot and ABC News consultant, says that a bomb may have gone off inside the aircraft which would explain why it abruptly went off radar screens and sent no distress signals in the moments before it crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday with 162 people on board.

"Maybe one that wasn't strong enough to blow the airplane into pieces at altitude, but maybe one that blew the control cables from the hydraulics," Nance told ABC News.

The plane is thought to be largely intact because search and rescue workers believe they see the shadow of a plane in the relatively shallow water.

Another possible explanation is that the AirAsia flight QZ8501 suffered a similar disaster that doomed an Air France crash in 2009 as it traveled from Rio de Janeiro to Paris and crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

In that situation, in a similar model AirBus plane, air speed measurement tools called Pitot tubes froze, causing the pilot to believe that they were going at a much faster pace than they actually were. Nance said he believes it is possible that the AirAsia plane inadvertently stalled, but suspects the stall could have been caused by trying to avoid a storm rather than having the Pitot tubes failing.

The pilot could have inadvertently stalled the plane by abruptly trying to increase his altitude despite ground control's refusal of his request to fly higher, Nance said. But a stall while trying to climb would not explain the abrupt end of the plane's radar signal, he noted.

"It's just sitting there and coming down out of the sky at an unsurvivable speed," Nance said of the stall theory.

Steve Ganyard, a former Marine Corps fighter pilot and ABC News consultant, said that if the plane is largely intact that could point to a slower crash caused by a stall, though he did not elaborate on the possible reasons for a stall.

"If there is in fact a shadow that looks like an airplane underwater, it would suggest that the airplane came down fairly slowly," Ganyard said on "Good Morning America." "Maybe it was in a stall, mushing to the ground at maybe 100, 150 mph. It did not hit at a very high rate of speed, which would have dispersed lots of debris all over and we wouldn't see that shadow."

Dewi Nurcahyani/AP Photo

PHOTO: Indonesian Air Force officials show AirAsia Flight 8501 debris during a press conference at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia, Dec. 30, 2014.

The experts, however, point out that the Air France stall occurred when it was dark out, meaning that the pilot would not have been able to see the horizon line, which would have alerted the pilots that the plane's nose was tipping up. Sunday's AirAsia flight took place in the morning at an hour when sunlight would have been visible over the horizon, meaning that the pilots should have been able to see that problem and have enough time to fix it.

Since the pilot's last call to ground control came when he requested permission to move to a higher altitude to avoid a storm, many have put some of the blame on the weather.

Nance said that it is possible that the pilots "overstressed the airplane by flying into a storm," though he largely dismissed that explanation on the grounds that the pilot should have had use of radar and would have had information to avoid a serious storm.

The prospect of a controlled ditching also seems unlikely to Nance, who said that while "some kind of major emergency" like an uncontrollable fire or the loss of all fuel could lead a pilot to try to land quickly, that would have also involved an emergency call to air traffic control which did not happen in this case.

"It's really puzzling," he said.

The only other explanation would be a pilot murder-suicide, which Nance said was the case in at least three other crashes in the past 20 years.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/airasia-crash-leading-theories-caused-plane/story?id=27903949

AIRASIA QZ8501 PLANE CRASH - What we know about the AirAsia plane crash

30 December 2014 Last updated at 18:19

Flight QZ8501: What we know about the AirAsia plane crash

Indonesian officials have confirmed that flight AirAsia QZ8501, which disappeared on 28 December, crashed into the Java Sea off Borneo.

The airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, was just over 40 minutes into its flight when contact was lost during bad weather.

Debris and bodies were spotted on the third day of the search, about 16km (10 miles) from the plane's last known co-ordinates.

Take-off

Flight QZ8501 took off from Surabaya at 05:35 local time on Sunday (22:35 GMT Saturday) with 162 people on board.

The seven crew were made up of two pilots, four flight attendants and an engineer. There were 155 passengers, including 16 children and one infant.

Nearly all the passengers and crew were Indonesians, including six of the crew - one of the pilots was French. There was also one passenger travelling on a UK passport.

The low-cost carrier was on a two-hour flight to Singapore.

The pilot contacted air traffic control at 06:12 local time (23:12 GMT) to request permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather.

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

Flight disappears

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.

AirAsia said the pilot had asked to climb to 38,000ft (11,000m) from 32,000ft, to avoid big storm clouds, which are a common occurrence in the area.

Indonesia's weather agency says the storm clouds at the time rose to a height of 44,000 ft (13,000m), higher than commercial airliners in the region regularly fly.

The plane was in an area near the equator known for thunderstorms, where trade winds from the northern and southern hemispheres intersect. Air France Flight 447, which crashed in the mid-Atlantic in June 2009 killing 228 people, was flying through similar conditions.

The AirAsia jet was reported to be the lowest-flying plane in the region at the time of its disappearance.

Search for wreckage

The search, led by the Indonesian military and the Indonesian search and rescue agency focused on an area of the Java Sea between Belitung island and Kalimantan, the plane's last known position.

About 30 vessels, including three warships, and more than 20 aircraft, including helicopters, several P3 Orions and Hercules C-130s, took part in the search, scouring an area of up to 10,000 square nautical miles (34,300 sq km).

A number of countries, including Australia, the United States, Singapore, South Korea and China, were involved.

Planes and ships were conducting visual and radar surveillance and there were also ships using sonar equipment.

Underwater recovery

Some reports say a shadow has been spotted under the water, which appeared to be in the shape of a plane.

The waters of the Java Sea are relatively shallow. According to Indonesian officials, the wreckage is believed to be in water between 20m (65ft) and 25m deep.

Twenty-one naval divers have been brought in to help with the search.

Indonesia has also deployed a pinger locator to look for the plane's underwater locator beacon, which should help locate the plane's "black box" flight recorder.

Civilian aircraft carry two "black boxes" - the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder, each weighing about 15lb (7kg) and protected by steel casing designed to resist water pressure in depths up to 20,000ft (6,000m).

If the recorders are underwater, a high-frequency ping is emitted every second for at least 30 days.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30632735