The Lion Air jet that crashed into the ocean last week had airspeed indicator problems during its final four flights, according to investigators yesterday.
Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee found that inaccurate airspeed readings continued for three days after analyzing the contents of a flight data recorder that was recovered last week. Investigators reportedly found that inaccurate airspeed readings occurred for three days and each time the aircraft was cleared for takeoff.
Investigators say they are trying to determine how the plane was repeatedly signed off for flights when it had multiple similar problems. “We will investigate further what caused the damage and what repair had been done,” Captain Nurcahyo said in a press conference.
The maintenance log of the plane’s previous flight showed the jet had problems with unreliable airspeed readings.
Then, data from the flight data recorder showed that two flights before Denpasar-Jakarta also experienced the same problem. “In the black box there were four flights that experienced problems with the airspeed indicator,” the investigator said. They are reviewing maintenance records to see what problems were reported and to find out exactly what repairs were done. They are trying to determine whether components were replaced and tested.
The cockpit voice recorder has not yet been recovered.