AirAsia Flight QZ8501 plane crash: Live updates as investigators reveal what caused tragedy that left 162 dead

Airbus A320 crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 last year, with all those on board losing their lives

Getty Probe: The report has revealed why the AirAsia Airbus passenger plane came down

08:47
One of a number of crashes

The horrific crash was one of a number to happen in Asia - including flight MH370.

The Airbus A320-200 was just 40 minutes into a flight from from Surabaya to Singapore when contact was lost.


Wreckage was found days later at the bottom of the Java Sea near Borneo.

No-one on board survived.
Xinhua News Agency/REX
08:35
Press release

This photo shows the details of the report which is currently being discussed in a press conference.

Live video of the conference has unfortunately gone down, but we will continue to bring you details from the morning.


08:17
Conference ongoing

The conference continues as officials release the report into their findings about the crash.

So far we have been told it was likely caused by the way pilots responded to a technical fault.

The crash killed all 162 people on board.


08:14
Circuit breakers

There is a lot of discussion about circuit breakers and how they work on a plane.

Senior bosses from the investigating team are talking about how they differ from the traditional ones you find in your home.

One of the men suggests that it must have been pulled off manually by one of the pilots - unlike in the home where they go off automatically.
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08:08
Pilot response

The way pilots responded to the malfunction contributed to the crash.

In the report, Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee said: “Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft... causing the aircraft to depart from the normal flight envelope and enter a prolonged stall condition that was beyond the capability of the flight crew to recover.”

08:01
Autopilot shut off

In the report, investigators said the soldering on the Rudder Travel Limiter system - which helps control the rudder’s movement - was cracked, leading it to send repeated warning systems to the cockpit.

When they received the fourth warning the pilots pulled circuit-breakers on part of the aircraft’s control system in a bid to reset the system.

The report said this then turned off the autopilot which caused the plane to begin rolling.

It added: “Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft”.

At this point, the plane went into a “prolonged stall condition that was beyond the capability of the crew to recover”.
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07:47
Report released

Results of the investigation into last year’s crash of an Indonesia AirAsia passenger jet have been released at a press conference which is still going on this morning.

The Airbus A320 crashed into the Java Sea on Dec 28 last year, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore.

A total of 162 people died on the plane when it came down.

Investigators have revealed how repeated problems the rudder control system led to the pilots disengaging the autopilot in stormy weather in a bid to fix the situation.

It is thought they then lost control of the plane Indonesia’s official National Transportation Safety Committee said.

It is one of a string of aviation disasters in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy where rapid growth in air travel has overcrowded the country’s airports and raised safety concerns.
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