Recordings from the cockpit of the Lion Air plane indicate the pilots of a Boeing 737 MAX frantically scoured a manual before their plane crashed into the Java Sea in October, killing all 189 people on board.
The Recordings suggest that the pilots were struggling to understand why the jet was lurching downwards, but ran out of time before it hit the water.
The Voice recordings are shedding light on what happened in October’s disaster, amid “clear similarities” to the Ethiopia plane crash.
Two minutes into the flight, the first officer reported a “flight control problem” to air traffic control and said that they intended to maintain an altitude of 5,000ft.
The captain was at the controls of the nearly new plane when it took off from Jakarta, and as an indicator showed a problem on his display, he asked the first officer to consult a handbook containing checklists for abnormal events.
For nine minutes, the jet warned pilots it was in a stall – meaning it could not generate lift and keep flying – and pushed the nose down in response.
Although the captain fought to continue climbing, the computer incorrectly sensed a stall and continued to push the nose down.
Investigators are examining how a computer ordered the plane to dive in response to data from a faulty sensor, and whether the pilots were adequately trained to respond to the emergency.
Previously, it emerged that a different crew on the same Boeing 737 MAX encountered similar problems a night before the crash, but had managed to solve the issue after running through three checklists.
However, the pilots in charge at the time of the crash had not been fully briefed about what happened.
Sources with knowledge of the cockpit voice recordings told the Reuters news agency that the pilots of Flight JT610 remained calm.
In the seconds leading up to the crash, the Indian-born captain was silent, while the Indonesian first officer said “Allahu Akbar” – or “God is greatest” – a common phrase used to express excitement, praise, distress or shock.
The investigation into the Lion Air disaster has taken on new relevance after the same type of Boeing plane was involved in another crash in Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board.
Officials have said there are “clear similarities” between both crashes.