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Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 experienced a thrust imbalance prior to going down in the Java Sea on Jan. 9, 2021, according to the preliminary accident report issued by Indonesia’s Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT/National Transportation Safety Committee) on Wednesday. Data from the Boeing 737-500’s flight data recorder (FDR) showed that the thrust lever for the aircraft’s left engine started reducing while the thrust lever position of the right engine remained the same as the aircraft climbed through 8,150 feet shortly after takeoff from Jakarta’s Soekarno–Hatta International Airport (CGK). The trend continued as the aircraft reached 10,900 feet, at which point the autopilot disengaged and the aircraft rolled left to more than 45 degrees. When the autothrottle disengaged five seconds later, the 737 was at a 10-degree nose-down pitch angle.
The Sriwijaya Air plane that crashed last month killing 62 people had an imbalance in engine thrust that eventually led the plane into a sharp roll and then a final dive into the sea, a preliminary report by investigators said on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old plane, previously flown by US-based Continental Airlines and United Airlines, plunged around 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) and crashed into waters off Jakarta just minutes after takeoff.
On Wednesday, investigators said they were probing the autothrottle system as they published their interim report.
Wednesday, 10 Feb 2021 04:56 PM MYT
Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 passenger jet’s throttles showed an ‘anomaly’ and had been repaired several times before a deadly accident last month. AFP file pic
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JAKARTA, Feb 10 An Indonesian passenger jet’s throttles showed an “anomaly” and had been repaired several times before a deadly accident last month, but the exact cause of the crash was unclear, investigators said today.
“The left (engine throttle) was moving backward too far while the right one was not moving at all it was stuck,” said National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Nurcahyo Utomo.