AirAsia

Indonesian air safety investigators have said that data from the black box flight recorders of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 has shown no evidence that the aircraft was brought down by terrorists.

National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Andreas Hananto said that no threatening voice has been identified in the cockpit voice recordings.

The recording indicated that the pilot was too busy attempting to gain control of the aircraft to send a distress call, Hananto told BBC.

In addition, Hananto was quoted by Reuters as saying: "From the (flight data recordings) so far, it’s unlikely there was an explosion.

"If there was, we would definitely know because certain parameters would show it. There are something like 1,200 parameters."

Authorities believe that the aircraft encountered bad weather.

Halfway on its two-hour flight from Indonesia’s Surabaya to Singapore, the AirAsia A320-200 lost contact with the air traffic control and crashed into the Java Sea on 28 December.

"From the (flight data recordings) so far, it’s unlikely there was an explosion."

The aircraft was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members.

Around 50 bodies have been retrieved so far and those missing are believed to be trapped inside the aircraft.

Last week, the fuselage of the Airbus A320-200 has been located by Singaporean Navy ship, MV Swift Rescue and search teams are working to retrieve it.

More than 30 ships and aerial searches have been deployed as part of a multi-national search for the aircraft.

A preliminary report on the crash is expected to be completed the next week.

Image: AirAsia’s A320-200 with 155 passengers and seven crew members crashed over Java Sea on 28 December. Photo: courtesy of P Masclet / Airbus SAS.