AirAsia Co-Pilot Was Flying Plane

The co-pilot was in control of the plane while the captain monitored AirAsia Flight 8501 before it crashed into the Java Sea last month, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee said Thursday. The plane was in good condition and the crew were all certified, but the flight data recorder recovered from the crash gave a “pretty clear picture” of what happened in the final moments, said Mardjono Siswosuwarno, the chief investigator for Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee. Though he did not give any further details, Mardjono said data recorders revealed the plane was at a stable altitude before it crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people aboard. Indonesia had previously said the Airbus A320 climbed rapidly before it lost lift and crashed. NTSC chief Tatang Kurniadi told reporters at a Jakarta news conference that Indonesia had submitted its report to the International Civil Aviation Organization on Wednesday, as required. Co-pilot Remi Emmanuel Plesel, 46, had logged 2,275 hours with AirAsia Indonesia and was the president of a French pilot association.