Although evidence so far indicates that the AirAsia flight could have stalled, some of the bodies recovered were found to be wearing life jackets. Static associated with the storm may have impeded communication with air traffic control and other aircraft in the vicinity could have been on a collision course. Recovery of the black box recorders should be able to distinguish possible causes and contributing factors.
Black box recorders allow air accident investigators to piece together what happened in the final moments before a plane crash. Information from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder is used to create an interactive animation of the flight displays.
Click on the graphic for an expanded view.
Engineering & Technology magazine 