A320, en-route Karimata Strait Indonesia, 2014

A320, en-route Karimata Strait Indonesia, 2014

Summary

On 28 December 2014, an A320 crew took unapproved action in response to a repeating system caution shortly after levelling at FL320. The unexpected consequences degraded the flight control system and obliged manual control. Gross mishandling followed which led to a stall, descent at a high rate and sea surface impact with a 20º pitch attitude and a 50º angle of attack four minutes later. The Investigation noted the accident origin as a repetitive minor system fault but demonstrated that the subsequent loss of control followed a combination of explicitly inappropriate pilot action and the absence of appropriate pilot action.

Description

On 28 December 2014, ATC lost contact with an Airbus A320 (PK-AXC) being operated by Indonesia AirAsia on a scheduled passenger flight from Surabaya to Singapore which had just reached its cruise level of FL320 in day IMC. It was subsequently found to have crashed after a loss of control with the sea impact resulting in the destruction of the aircraft and the deaths of all 162 occupants.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) - the Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT). After an intensive sea search, the FDR and 2-hour CVR were both recovered - respectively on 12 and 13 January 2015 - and their data were subsequently successfully downloaded. Recorded ATC data were also available. Some of the wreckage was eventually recovered.

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