Under The Angsana Tree: Probe into AirAsia Flight QZ8501

Bodies of two pilots found in cockpit, one retrieved

In this Feb 2, 2015 photo, Indonesian divers and rescue personnel from the National Search and Rescue Agency recover a body from the underwater wreckage of the ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java sea. -- PHOTO: AFP

Indonesia's search and rescue agency Basarnas has found the bodies of the two pilots of the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501, it told AFP on Friday, according to the local news media.

Baasarnas chief Bambang Soelistyo said the plane cockpit was found 20m from where the fuselage was located, and the bodies of the pilots were inside, still wearing uniforms and strapped to their seats, reported news portal Detik.com.

"The cockpit has been found but it no longer intact. Then, one pilot's body has been evacuated to our ship KN Pacitan," Detik.com quoted him as saying.

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AirAsia captain's behaviour was 'very unusual' prior to crash that killed 162

He left his co-pilot in charge but arrived back at his seat too late to save the plane

The captain of the AirAsia jet that crashed into the sea off Indonesia in December was out of his seat conducting an unusual procedure when his co-pilot apparently lost control.

By the time he returned it was too late to save the plane, two people close to the investigation told news agency Reuters.

They said that investigators were examining the Flight Augmentation Computer (FAC) recovered from the Airbus A320, and that the captain had taken the “very unusual” step of disabling the system.

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AirAsia captain left seat before plan lost control: Sources

The captain of the AirAsia jet that crashed into the sea in December was out of his seat conducting an unorthodox procedure when his co-pilot apparently lost control, and by the time he returned it was too late to save the plane, two people familiar with the investigation said.

Details emerging of the final moments of Flight QZ8501 are likely to focus attention partly on maintenance, procedures and training, though Indonesian officials have stressed publicly that it is too early to draw any firm conclusions. The Airbus A320 jet plunged into the Java Sea while en route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board.

It had been suffering maintenance faults with a key flight control computer for over a week, and one person familiar with the matter said the captain had flown on the same plane with the intermittently faulty device just days before the crash.

related: All the stories on the AirAsia crash

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Co-pilot was at helm when plane took steep climb

The tail of AirAsia QZ8501 passenger plane is seen on the deck of the Indonesian Search and Rescue (BASARNAS) ship. The agency will continue to look for the wreckage and bodies on Saturday

Investigations into the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 indicate that the co-pilot with much less experience than the captain was at the controls before the plane went into a dangerously fast climb and crashed into the Java Sea.

First Officer Rémi-Emmanuel Plesel, a French national, had about 2,200 flight hours over roughly three years flying for AirAsia. In comparison, Captain Iriyanto, a former fighter pilot, had nearly 10 times that many total hours in his logbook.

The flight-data recorder indicates the first officer's control stick pulled the plane's nose up, sources in the investigation team told Wall Street Journal.

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Doomed plane was being flown by first officer and NOT captain when it crashed

Horror: Many families are still waiting for their loved ones' bodies to be found

Doomed AirAsia Flight QZ8501 was being flown by the first officer and not the captain when it crashed killing all 162 passengers and crew on board, an investigation has found.

The jet's flight data recorder, also known as the black box, was recovered and it has provided a "pretty clear picture" of what happened during the plane's final moments, Indonesia's chief investigator said.

Mardjono Siswosuwarno, head investigator for the National Transportation Safety Committee, said the jet was in sound condition and that all of the crew on board had been properly certified.

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First officer was at controls when jet crashed, lead investigator says

Data from the black box flight recorder has provided a "pretty clear picture" of what happened when AirAsia flight QZ8501 went down. (Reuters: Antara Photo Agency)

The French first officer of an AirAsia passenger jet that crashed into the sea last month was at the controls just prior to the accident, Indonesia's lead investigator has said.

Data from the black box flight recorder has provided the accident probe with a "pretty clear picture" of what happened in the last moments of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, but officials offered few details.

The Airbus A320 vanished from radar screens in bad weather on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. All 162 people on board were killed.

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Pilot was not in control of doomed flight before crash

AirAsia QZ8501 was not being flown by captain when it crashed in to Java Sea

Fresh light has been shed on the Air Asia QZ8501 disaster, suggesting the captain of the craft was not at the controls of the plane when it plummeted in to the Java Sea.

Information gleaned from the black box recorders suggested the AirAsia flight was being piloted by co-pilot Remi Plesel, a French national.

A total of 162 people were killed when the plane plummeted from the sky last month. Only 70 bodies have been recovered.

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KNKT reveal preliminary findings in AirAsia QZ8501 investigation

The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) revealed in Jakarta on Thursday a number of findings that were crucial in the preliminary investigation in to the crash of AirAsia flight QZ8501, which killed all 162 people on board.

KNKT senior investigator Mardjono Siswosuwarno said the ill-fated Airbus A320-200 plane’s flight data recorder (FDR) had 1,200 parameters that could be used to investigate the crash.

“But, [analyzing the data from] 34 parameters is enough. We do not need to analyze all 1,200 parameters,” Mardjono told the press on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

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Fishermen discover two bodies and luggage from doomed AirAsia flight 1,000km from the search zone