A FAULTY component and the crew’s inadequate response caused an AirAsia A320 to crash into the Java Sea last year, killing all 162 people on board, an Indonesian report said yesterday.

    Flight QZ8501 plunged into the ocean in stormy weather on Dec. 28, during what was supposed to be a routine flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

    The crash of the Airbus A320-200 triggered a huge international search, with ships and aircraft from several nations involved in a lengthy hunt.

    The bodies of 56 of those who died have never been found.

    In their final report into the accident released yesterday, Indonesia’s official National Transportation Safety Committee said poor maintenance and a fault with the system that helps control the rudder’s movement was a major contributing factor to the crash.

    Cracked soldering in the component caused it to malfunction and send repeated warning messages to the pilots, it said.

    In response, they tried to reset a computer system but in the process turned off the plane’s autopilot, sending it into a sharp roll from which they were unable to recover.

    Investigators said there was miscommunication between the pilots as the plane plunged towards the sea, with the men at one point pushing their control sticks in opposite directions.

    (SD-Agencies)