FAULTY equipment was a “major factor” in the AirAsia plane crash last December that killed all 162 people on board, Indonesian officials say.

The plane’s rudder control system malfunctioned four times during the flight – a fault that occurred 23 times in the preceding year, officials said.

Their report added that the crew’s response contributed to the disaster.
The Airbus A320-200, travelling from Surabaya to Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 last year

Investigators had initially indicated that stormy weather was a major factor in the crash – however, they now say that this was not a cause.

The new report from the National Transport Safety Committee, released after a year-long investigation, 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.