Weather termed 'triggering factor' behind AirAsia crash: report

Weather is a factor triggering the crash of AirAsia QZ8501 flight with 162 people on board into Java sea a week ago, said Indonesia's meteorological department. [Special coverage]

Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics made the statement in an analysis report released on its website on Sunday.

The pilot asked for permission to turn left to avoid cumulonimbus clouds, and raise the height of the aircraft to 38, 000 feet, before it lost contact at 6:17 in between the way point Tavip and RAFIS, according to the report.

Preliminary analysis indicates that the aircraft may have to fly into storm cloud which had become the factor behind several plane crashes in Indonesia, said the report, referring to the Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 accident in 2002, and the Adam Air Flight 574 crash in 2007.

The satellite image showed that the peak temperature is between- 80 and -85, which means there are grains of ice in the cloud,said the report.

With the information available in the area where the AirAsia QZ8501 was finally detected, the meteorological agency said the weather is a factor triggering the accident, but noted this is just a possibility and not a final report on the fatal crash.

AirAsia flight 8501, an Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people, crashed last Sunday en route from Indonesia's Surabaya to Singapore. So far 30 bodies have been recovered through multinational search operations, with six of them identified as passengers onboard the plane.