Indonesia’s parliament has been told that the Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320 which crashed into the Java Sea last month climbed rapidly before its fatal descent.
The aircraft climbed at 6,000ft/min and then descended 7,900ft in the space of 45s, transport minister Ignasius Jonan stated.
He was briefing the parliament on the latest findings in the flight QZ8501 investigation on 20 January.
There is no immediate indication as to the reason behind the rapid climb or the subsequent descent, nor any details on the flight-control law under which the A320 was operating at the time.
The aircraft’s crew had requested a climb to 38,000ft from its assigned altitude of 32,000ft, while in the vicinity of poor weather, during the service to Singapore on 28 December.
Investigators have previously stated that the aircraft had been cleared to climb only to 34,000ft.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
