SURABAYA, Indonesia, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The co-pilot of AirAsia Flight 8501 was flying the passenger jet just before it climb dangerously fast and crashed into the Java Sea, investigators said.
Information gathered from the plane's black-box recorders indicated First Officer Rémi-Emmanuel Plesel, a French national born in Martinique, was at the helm of the plane as it navigated to avoid a storm Dec. 28.
The Airbus A320 was carrying 162 people en route from Singapore to Surabaya, Indonesia, when it crashed, presumably killing all on board. So far at least 73 bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea.
Indonesia investigators said they're trying to determine if something surprised or confused Plesel as he flew the plane. The cockpit-voice recorder revealed there were repeated automated stall warnings before Plesel and the pilot struggled to gain control of the passenger jet.
The jet lost forward airspeed, climbed rapidly, stalled, then crashed into the sea.
Mardjono Siswosuwarno, head investigator of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, said it is common practice for co-pilots to be in control of flying passenger jets. All flight crew members had proper licenses and medical certificates, he added.
Investigators believe turbulence or updrafts may have contributed to the cause of the crash.
