Off the wire
• Kyrgyztan plans on railway project with China  • Urgent: UN chief urges immediate end to all hostilities in Yemen  • Spotlight: China, Switzerland to sign financial deal on offshore RMB market in Zurich  • Mainland investment in Taiwan drops slightly in 2014  • Economic impact of Ebola less severe than previous estimates, World Bank  • Wawrinka starts Australian Open title defense with comfortable win  • Interview: Greek opposition economist dismisses default, Grexit in run-up to election  • Xinhua Asia Pacific news summary at 1615GMT, Jan. 20  • 1st LD: 16 injured in attack at police compound in Pakistan's Karachi  • Afghanistan celebrates 60th anniversary of Sino-Afghan diplomatic relations  
You are here: 　 Home

Crashed AirAsia flight climbs too fast before disappearing from radar: Indonesia

Xinhua, January 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Indonesia said here Tuesday that the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 climbed at an abnormally high rate and plunged suddenly before disappearing from radar.

Addressing the Parliament, Indonesian Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan said " it is not normal to climb like that. It is very rare for commercial planes which normally climb just 1,000 to 2,000 feet per minute."

"It can only be done by a fighter jet," the transport minister added.

What caused the flight to climb too fast remained unknown now.

Flight QZ8501, with 162 people onboard, plummeted into the Java Sea near the Karimata Strait during its journey from Surabaya to Singapore on Dec. 28.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders, known as black boxes, have been recovered and they are vital to determining the cause of the crash. Enditem