JAKARTA (INDONESIA) – The Indonesian air accident investigator is looking into whether a problem with the autothrottle system, which controls engine power automatically, was responsible for the Sriwijaya Air jet crash on January, killing 62 on board, said an official on Friday.
National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) investigator Nurcayho Utomo said there was a problem with the Boeing 737-500’s autothrottle system after a flight a few days before the crash.
“There was a report of malfunction on the autothrottle a couple of days before to the technician in the maintenance log, but we do not know what kind of problem,” he said. “If we find the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) we can hear the discussion between the pilots, what they talked about and we will know what is the problem.”
Utomo said it is still not clear whether a problem with the autothrottle system led to the crash, adding he could not recall any other problem being raised in the maintenance log.
He said it is acceptable for an aircraft to fly with an autothrottle system that is malfunctioning because pilots can control it manually.
Sriwijaya Air said it is unable to comment on technical issues involving the probe before an official statement is issued by KNKT. As per global standards, a preliminary report is expected within 30 days of the crash.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thursday, the FDR showed the autothrottle system was not functioning properly on one of the aircraft engines when it climbed on departure from Jakarta.
Rather than shutting off the system, the FDR indicated the pilots tried to get the stuck throttle to function, said the WSJ.