The aviation insurance sector could be on the hook after faulty equipment was found to be a “major factor” in the AirAsia plane crash a year ago that killed 162 people. The Airbus A320-200, travelling from Surabaya to Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea December 28, 2014.
A report from Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee released Tuesday after a year-long investigation, found that soldering on an electronic component of the rudder controller had failed, causing the rudder to malfunction four times during the flight.
The same problem had occurred at least 23 times in the previous 12 months. But the terminal factor was the flight crew’s response and attempts to fix the problem while airborne.
Initially, poor weather had been cited as a major factor in the crash but the conclusion of the report now points to poor maintenance of the aircraft, putting AirAsia in an awkward position over its maintenance records and crew training.