AirAsia disaster: More bad weather slows down search

Indonesian police carry plane parts found floating near the site of the AirAsia crash; seven bodies have been found so far. Photo / AP

A temporary break in poor weather yesterday failed to help the search for wreckage from AirAsia Flight QZ8501.

Only seven bodies have been retrieved from the crash site off Borneo, including a uniformed female flight attendant, but rough weather has hampered efforts. Indonesian rescuers promised an "all-out effort" to search for bodies as the weather cleared yesterday and international investigators joined attempts to locate the fuselage.

Search and rescue official Sunarbowo Sandi said experts from France and Singapore would join investigators in the search for the wreckage and black boxes. But the weather worsened again after a few hours.

The apparent discovery of the crashed plane lying intact and upside down in the Java Sea fed speculation the plane stalled in heavy weather, leaving its 162 passengers facing violent shudders before a sharp descent.

Analysts reviewing the course and location of Flight QZ8501 suggested the pilot ascended sharply to avoid a storm but the manoeuvre failed, possibly because the weather damaged the plane's instruments. This would have made the plane shake fiercely before its nose pitched forward, and passengers would most likely have known it was dropping.

Stephen Buzdygan, a former British Airways pilot, said if the plane had entered the water upside down, it may have hit severe turbulence and stalled before either gliding down or spinning out of control. The water depth of 25m would suggest it might not have flipped after entry, he said.

"If it's upside down in shallow water, that would suggest the aircraft became disoriented. I would suggest there was some sort of upset to the aircraft - severe downdraughts or clear-air turbulence. I've flown through thunderstorms there and it's not pleasant. The vertical air draughts can impose enormous stress on the aircraft."

An unnamed source familiar with the investigation into the AirAsia disaster claimed it made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed. This would lend more weight to the suggestion the plane stalled, or lost the ability to gain lift and fly, effectively becoming a dead weight in the sky. "This rate of climb is very high, too high. It appears to be beyond the performance envelope of the aircraft," the source said.

Some analysts have speculated the plane may have suffered a similar fate to Air France 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 after its speed detectors froze during a storm.

That crash, along with other similar incidents involving attempts by planes to avoid storms, led to increased training for pilots in dealing with stalls and loss of instruments. It's not known whether Iryanto, the AirAsia pilot, had such training. The crash has renewed concerns that an over-reliance on automated flying has left pilots less able to cope with emergencies and loss of instruments.

- Telegraph Group Ltd, AFP