JAKARTA (INDONESIA) – Five components of the crashed Sriwijaya Air jet were sent to the US and UK for examination by the Indonesian air accident investigator. The parts include the autothrottle that controls engine power automatically, said the head of the agency on Tuesday.
Minutes after takeoff, the 26-year-old Boeing Co 737-500 crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 62 onboard.
According to National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) Chief Soerjanto Tjahjono, the five components had been sent for a detailed examination to help find out why an autothrottle parameter had changed.
Although the aircraft’s flight data recorder (FDR) had been retrieved, the search is going on to find out its cockpit voice recorder’s (CVR) memory unit that Tjahjono said would give answers to questions regarding human factors behind the crash.
“If we only have the FDR, we do not know why the parameter changed, what was the reason,” he said referring to the autothrottle. “We need confirmation from the components that we sent to the US and UK and the CVR.”
Last month, KNKT said it was probing whether a problem with the autothrottle system led to the crash as an issue with it had been reported a few days earlier.
KNKT is planning to come out with a preliminary report into the crash likely by February 9, said Tjahjono.
