Weather termed "triggering factor" behind AirAsia crash: report

JAKARTA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Weather is a factor triggering the crash of AirAsia QZ8501 flight with 162 people on board into Java sea a week ago, said Indonesia's meteorological department.

Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics made the statement in an analysis report released on its website on Sunday.

The pilot asked for permission to turn left to avoid cumulonimbus clouds, and raise the height of the aircraft to 38, 000 feet, before it lost contact at 6:17 in between the way point Tavip and RAFIS, according to the report.

Preliminary analysis indicates that the aircraft may have to fly into storm cloud which had become the factor behind several plane crashes in Indonesia, said the report, referring to the Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 accident in 2002, and the Adam Air Flight 574 crash in 2007.

The satellite image showed that the peak temperature is between- 80 and -85, which means there are grains of ice in the cloud,said the report.

With the information available in the area where the AirAsia QZ8501 was finally detected, the meteorological agency said the weather is a factor triggering the accident, but noted this is just a possibility and not a final report on the fatal crash.

AirAsia flight 8501, an Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people, crashed last Sunday en route from Indonesia's Surabaya to Singapore. So far 30 bodies have been recovered through multinational search operations, with six of them identified as passengers onboard the plane.

 印尼气象部门称天气“诱发”亚航客机失事

新华网雅加达１月４日电（记者周檬　郑世波）印度尼西亚气象部门４日发表报告称，天气是导致亚航ＱＺ８５０１航班客机失事的“诱发因素”。

印尼气象、气候和地球物理局当天在官方网站发布报告称，飞行员曾在客机处于３２０００英尺高度时向塔台请求向左偏航以躲避积雨云，同时请求提升飞行高度至３８０００英尺。此后，客机监控播报系统未再发出信号，可能已经飞入暴风云区。

报告称，卫星云图显示，亚航ＱＺ８５０１航班路线上空对流云峰值温度在零下８０至零下８５摄氏度之间，意味着云层内有冻雨存在。

报告说，根据客机失联前最后位置的已知数据，气象、气候和地球物理局认为，天气是事故诱发因素，最可能的现象是客机在飞行过程中结冰，导致引擎受损。这只是根据气象数据得出的结论，是客机失事的一种可能性，并非事故原因的最终报告。

去年１２月２８日，亚航ＱＺ８５０１航班在从印尼泗水飞往新加坡途中失事，机上载有１６２名乘客和机组人员。

事发后，来自多国的２９艘舰只和１７架飞机参与搜寻。至４日，客机残骸和遇难者遗体搜寻仍在进行。搜寻人员此前在坠机海域发现四块残骸，最大残骸为１８米乘５．４米大小，客机黑匣子仍未发现。目前，已有３０具遇难者遗体被打捞上岸。