AirAsia QZ8501: Co-pilot's body recovered from crashed plane on sea floor

A section of AirAsia flight QZ8501's tail is loaded onto a boat for transportation to Jakarta from Kumai Port

Jakarta - Indonesian divers have found a body believed to be the French co-pilot Remi Plesel  who was steering an AirAsia plane when it crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people onboard, an official said Saturday. 

Coordinator of the search and rescue effort S.B. Supriyadi said the body was retrieved from the front part of the fuselage during a search operation on Friday.

A formal confirmation will be given after the Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) team finish identifying the body, which is in poor condition, Supriyadi said.

Two individuals close to the crash investigation have revealed that Captain Iriyanto had left his seat to disconnect a faulty flight augmentation computer, leaving the co-pilot in control.

Flight QZ8501 crashed during a storm on December 28, killing everyone on board – a total of 162 people – during what was intended to be a short trip to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya.

Indonesian investigators last month said French co-pilot Remi Plesel was flying the plane before it crashed, rather than Captain Iriyanto, an experienced former fighter pilot.

"It is likely to be the body of the French co-pilot, wearing uniform with three stripes on shoulder," he told news agency AFP. He added that the body is in poor condition and that it is now on board the Pacitan warship, prior to being taken to land.

Divers also found three bodies inside the main body of the plane on Friday and another three bodies near the fuselage today, bringing a total number of dead retrieved to 101, Supriyadi said. Rescue services are still trying to lift the fuselage from the seabed using giant inflatable bags after earlier attempts failed.

Investigators believe the flight augmentation computer malfunctioned during the flight, but instead of resetting it, Captain Iriyanto left his seat and disconnected it from a circuit breaker situated behind co-pilot Plesel. The co-pilot is then believed to have lost control.

The plane climbed sharply and then either stalled or lost thrust, before falling almost straight down into the ocean. However, this scenario discounts the fact that the computer has a reset button on the dashboard, so it is not clear why Iriyanto left his seat.

The aircraft's black box recorders have been recovered from the seabed and might shed further light on the aircraft's final moments.

The official investigation into the crash remains at an early stage. Meanwhile, lawyers acting for the family of co-pilot Plesel have filed a lawsuit against AirAsia in Paris for "endangering the lives of others" by using the route without official authorisation.

The National Transportation SafetyCommittee (NTSC) of Indonesia has said it is too early to say what role either human factors or equipment may have played in the crash, which is still being investigated. 

The head of the investigation, Mardjono Siswosuwarno, told reporters this week it was too early to say whether the accident involved pilot error or a mechanical fault.

The NTSC said on Thursday the jet was in sound condition and all crew members were properly certified. Airbus declined to comment.

Lawyers for the family of the French co-pilot say they have filed a lawsuit against AirAsia in Paris for 'endangering the lives of others' by flying the route without official authorisation on that day.

Investigators have said the accident was not related to the permit issue. AirAsia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit. - AFP