Islam Times - Bad weather cited as 'biggest' factor in AirAsia crash

Islam Times - Indonesia’s top weather agency has determined that bad weather was the key factor in the crash of AirAsia flight QZ8501, specifically pointing to icy conditions as the likely cause of engine failure.

Authorities with the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) stated Saturday that conditions at the time of the plane’s disappearance indicate that it had most likely flown into a storm system.

"From our data it looks like the last location of the plane had very bad weather and it was the biggest factor behind the crash," said BMKG’s research director Edvin Aldrian.

"These icy conditions can stall the engines of the plane and freeze and damage the plane’s machinery," he added.

Officials have said the plane was travelling at 32,000 feet when the pilot's last communication was a request to climb to 38,000 feet to avoid the bad weather.

The Airbus A320 aircraft disappeared last Sunday en route to Singapore from Surabaya in Indonesia with 162 passengers on board.

Only 30 bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea as of Saturday.

The aircraft’s black boxes, flight data and cockpit voice recorders have yet to be found.

Meanwhile, the discovery of four large objects, believed to be debris from the plane, has raised hopes of finding its fuselage, where most of the bodies are thought to be trapped.

A convoy of ships is converging on the area where the large objects were discovered in order to place divers into the water.

A Russian search team, including 22 deep water divers and a remotely operated submersible vessel, is also due to join the search for the plane’s black boxes after its arrival in Pangkalan Bun on Saturday.