Off-duty pilot saved Lion Air 737 from crashing day before deadly crash in Indonesia
Investigation has revealed that a day before a Lion Air flight crashed in October 2018 in Indonesia, an off-duty pilot prevented the same plane from crashing after the crew lost control of the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
Recall that the jetliner crashed into the Java Sea after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 aboard on Monday, October 2018.
Bloomberg reports that as the Lion Air crew fought to control the airplane, they got help from an off-duty pilot who happened to be riding in the cockpit.
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Legit.ng gathers that the off-duty pilot who was seated in the jumpseat was said to have correctly diagnosed the problem and told the crew how to disable a malfunctioning flight-control system to save the plane.
The disclosure was made by two people familiar with Indonesia’s investigation.
On Tuesday, October 2018, under the command of a different crew, the jetliner, which was said to have developed a similar malfunction, crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people aboard.
Legit.ng previously reported that an Indonesian carrier, Lion Air's flight JT-610, crashed into the sea north of Jakarta, while conveying passengers from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang , on Monday morning, October 29, 2018.
The plane which had 189 people on board, lost contact with air control, just 13 minutes after take off.
The individuals on board the aircraft included 178 adults, one child, two babies, two pilots and five flight attendants.
The plane's pilot, Bhavye Suneja, an Indian national, had asked to return to the airport after reporting technical difficulties, before the tragic incident occurred. The return was allowed by traffic control, however, the aircraft vanished from the radar shortly after.
The crash was confirmed by the Indonesian search and rescue agency.
In another previous report by Legit.ng, Ethiopian Airlines flight en-route to Nairobi from Addis Ababa, went down with more than 140 passengers on board.
The ill-fated aircraft crashed on the morning of Sunday, March 10, at around Bishoftu (Debre Zeit).
Confirming the fatal accident, the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, expressed their deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the Sunday morning crash.
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A statement shared on the PM's official Twitter page read: "The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning."
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Source: Legit.ng
