The AirAsia pilots aboard Flight 8501 cut power to a critical computer system that normally prevents planes from going out of control shortly before it plunged into the Java Sea, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
The action appears to have helped trigger the events of Dec. 28, when the Airbus Group NV A320 plane climbed so abruptly that it lost lift and it began falling with warnings blaring in the cockpit, the people said. All 162 aboard were killed.
The flight climbed at an abnormally high rate. It then plunged, and suddenly disappeared from radar.
EARLIER REPORT: Transport minister Ignasius Joan explained that new radar data indicated that the Airbus 320 had been climbing at approximately 6,000 feet per minute when it disappeared on December 28.
“It is not normal to climb like that, it’s very rare for commercial planes, which normally climb just 1,000 to 2,000 feet per minute,” he said. “It can only be done by a fighter jet.” He did not, however, explain what caused the plane to climb so rapidly.
The transportation minister continued:
“In the final minutes, the plane climbed at a speed which was beyond normal. The plane suddenly went up at a speed above the normal limit that it was supposed to climb to.
In their last contact with air-traffic controllers, the pilots of AirAsia Flight 8501 asked to climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid a potentially dangerous weather system.
The pilots were denied permission because of “heavy air traffic.” Four minutes later, the plane disappeared.
No distress signal was received.
