Sriwijaya tragedy: Probe blames engine failure, pilots' complacency for Indonesian plane crash

Indonesian investigators came to the conclusion on Thursdaythat Sriwijaya Air Flight 182's engine control system malfunctioned minutes after takeoff, causing a catastrophe that killed all 62 passengers on board in January of last year, as per Bloomberg reports.As per the National Transportation Safety Committee's final report on the fatal flight on January 9, the pilots of the Boeing Co. 737-500 lost control of the aircraft when one of its automated engine throttle levers started losing power, causing the aircraft to roll onto its side and crash into the Java Sea.

“Complacency and confirmation bias led to limited monitoring” by the pilots, who failed to immediately rectify the situation, lead investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said at a briefing. The findings support the results of preliminary investigations.

The tragedy rendered Indonesia's already-poor aviation safety record worse. Previously,an AirAsia airliner with 162 people aboard crashed in the Java Sea in 2014. Similarly, 189 people died in a Lion Air tragedy that occurred in the same area in 2018.

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According to the maintenance logs, the issue had been brought up 65 times since 2013 and persisted on the last trip.

The aircraft travelling from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of the West Kalimantan state, had 56 passengers as well as two pilots, aged 54 and 34, four flight attendants, and four cargo crew members on board.The investigation was aided by the Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau, the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, and the US National Transportation Safety Board.

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