Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501
A section of the aircraft after its recovery | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 28 December 2014 |
| Summary | Crashed into the sea following pilot error and spatial disorientation; mishandled non-critical failure leading to stall |
| Site | Karimata Strait, Java Sea near Indonesia 3°37′23″S 109°42′43″E / 3.623°S 109.712°E |
| Aircraft | |
| PK-AXC, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed in April 2014. | |
| Aircraft type | Airbus A320-216 |
| Operator | Indonesia AirAsia |
| IATA flight No. | QZ8501 |
| ICAO flight No. | AWQ8501 |
| Call sign | WAGON AIR 8501 |
| Registration | PK-AXC |
| Flight origin | Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia |
| Destination | Changi Airport, Changi, Singapore |
| Occupants | 162 |
| Passengers | 155 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 162 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Indonesia AirAsia from Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, to Singapore. On 28 December 2014, the Airbus A320-216 flying the route crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 of the people on board. When search operations ended in March 2015, only 116 bodies had been recovered. This is the first crash and only fatal accident involving Indonesia AirAsia.
In December 2015, the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT or NTSC) released a report concluding that a non-critical malfunction in the rudder control system prompted the captain to perform a non-standard reset of the on-board flight control computers. Control of the aircraft was subsequently lost, resulting in a stall and uncontrolled descent into the sea. Miscommunication between the two pilots was cited as a contributing factor.