Air Asia

What should have been a party time for Air Asia with the lead up to the new year turned out to be a tragedy for the airline with the loss of an Indonesian Air Asia Airbus A320 on 28 December in the Java Sea.  On board were 162 souls.

On 18 December sister company Air Asia X confirmed a firm order for 55 A330neo aircraft, the largest commitment for the re-engined wide body to date.  Deliveries are due from 2018.

At the present time there is much speculation as to the cause of the A320 crash but third party sabotage has been ruled out with professional opinion diverse, the crew unable to put out a Mayday before being overwhelmed by the situation. 

AirAsia Flight QZ8501's steep climb before it crashed possibly pushed it beyond the Airbus A320's limits, said a source familiar with the aircraft type.

The plane has crashed in shallow waters (100ft is suggested) and finding the six-year-old aircraft's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR), more commonly known as black boxes, is vital to complement the radar data already availabe.   www.airasia.com

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