A malfunctioning automatic throttle may have caused the pilots of a Sriwijaya Air jet to lose control, sending the plane plunging into the Java Sea last month, Indonesian investigators say.
The agency released its preliminary report on crash that killed all 62 passengers and crew.
Jakarta:
A crashed Indonesian passenger jet s throttles showed an anomaly and had been repaired several times before the deadly accident, but the exact cause of last month s fatal dive was still unclear, investigators said Wednesday.
A potential malfunction in the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 s engine control system was highlighted in a preliminary report on the January 9 crash which killed all 62 passengers and crew, including nearly a dozen children.
The 26-year-old plane previously flown by US-based Continental Airlines and United Airlines plunged around 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) and crashed into waters off Jakarta just minutes after takeoff.
Investigators said they are still struggling to understand why the jet nosedived into the Java Sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta on Jan. 9, killing all 62 people on board
JAKARTA, Feb 2 ― Indonesia's air accident investigator has sent five components of a crashed Sriwijaya Air jet to the United States and Britain for examination, including the autothrottle that controls engine power automatically, the agency's head said today. The 26-year-old Boeing Co 737-500.
The airliner s President Director Jefferson Irwin Jauwena hoped by visiting the location to help relatives accept what happened to their loved ones and ease their grief.