AKIPRESS.COM - A faulty component was a "major factor" when an AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea last December, killing 162 people, Indonesian officials say.
The first major report into the crash found that actions by the crew in response to the malfunction also contributed to the disaster.
The Airbus A320-200, going from Surabaya to Singapore, was 40 minutes into the flight when contact was lost.
The report is the result of a year-long investigation.
Investigators had initially indicated that bad weather was a major factor in the crash.
But the new report has found that the soldering on a tiny electronic part in the system that controlled the rudder was cracked, causing it to send four warning signals to the pilots.
The crew tried to fix the problem by resetting the computer, but this disabled the autopilot. They then lost control of the plane, reports BBC.