News Digest

Indonesian transport minister: AirAsia jet ‘climbed too fast then stalled’

An AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea last month with 162 people on board climbed at a faster than normal speed and then stalled, the Indonesian transport minister said Tuesday. Indonesia’s meteorological agency has said bad weather may have caused the crash, and investigators are analysing the data from the jet’s black boxes before releasing a preliminary report. Citing radar data, Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters the pilot had asked to climb to avoid the storm but was not immediately granted permission due to heavy air traffic.

The plane suddenly went up at a speed above the normal limit that it was able to climb to. Then it stalled.

Indonesian Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan

At a parliamentary hearing, Minister Jonan said radar data showed the Airbus A320-200 appeared to be climbing at a rate of 1,800 metres per minute before the crash. There were several other planes in the area at the time. His comments came after Indonesian investigators said they were focusing on the possibility of human error or problems with the plane having caused the crash, following an initial analysis of the cockpit voice recorder.

I think it is rare even for a fighter jet to be able to climb 6,000 feet [1,800m] per minute.

Minister Jonan