PLANE CRASH IN INDONESIA WAS LIKELY CAUSED BY THROTTLE SNAG

A malfunctioning automatic throttle may have caused the pilots of a Sriwijaya Air jet to lose control, resulting in the Boeing 737-500’s crash into the Java Sea last month, Indonesian investigators said on Wednesday.

National Transportation Safety Committee investigators said they were still struggling to understand why the jet nosedived into the water minutes after taking off from Jakarta on January 9, killing all 62 people on board.

The investigators issued a preliminary report that provided new details of the pilots’ struggle to fly the plane.

The lead investigator, Nurcahyo Utomo, said the left engine’s throttle lever moved backward on its own while autopilot was engaged, reducing the power output of that engine before the jet plunged into the sea. He said pilots of previous flights had reported problems with the automatic throttle system on the 26-yearold jet.