LION AIR CRASH PLANE ‘NOT AIRWORTHY’
The Lion Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea last month was not in an airworthy condition even on its second-to-last flight, when pilots experienced similar problems to those on its doomed last journey, Indonesian investigators said on Wednesday.
In a preliminary report, Indonesia’s transport safety committee (KNKT) focused on the airline’s maintenance practices and pilot training and a Boeing Co anti-stall system but did not give a cause for the crash that killed all 189 people on board.
The report unveiled fresh details of efforts by pilots to steady the 737 MAX jet as they reported a “flight control problem”, including the captain’s last words to air traffic control asking to be cleared to “five thou” or 5,000 feet.
Contact with the jet was lost 13 minutes after it took off from the capital, Jakarta, heading north
to the tin-mining town of Pangkal Pinang. Information retrieved from the flight data recorder showed the “stick shaker” was vibrating the captain’s controls warning of a stall throughout most of the flight. The captain was using his controls to bring the airline’s nose up, but an automated anti-stall system was pushing it down.
Pilots flying the same plane a day earlier had experienced a similar problem, en route from Denpasar, Bali, to Jakarta, until they used switches
to shut off the system and used manual controls to fly and stabilize the plane, KNKT said. “The flight from Denpasar to Jakarta experienced stick shaker activation during the takeoff rotation and remained active throughout the flight,” the report said.“this condition is considered as un-airworthy condition” and the flight should have been “discontinued”.
JAKARTA (REUTERS), NOVEMBER 28, 2018