Sriwijaya 737-500 'slowly' turned left before entering fatal descent

Components of the crashed Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 including the flight-control computer, autothrottle computer, and autothrottle actuator assembly are undergoing examination, a Indonesian parliamentary commission has heard. The commission held a session on Wednesday during which various representatives involved in the inquiry provided preliminary information on the flight and updated parliamentarians on progress with the investigation. Investigation authority KNKT informed the commission that the aircraft – operating Jakarta-Pontianak on 9 January – took off at around 14:36 on 9 January, initially heading west-northwest before turning north, whereupon there was a communication request for a heading of 075° at 14:38:51. But although aircraft continued to turn to the right as it climbed it does not appear to have reached this heading, according to a flightpath diagram presented to the commission. About 10s after the heading exchange the crew was instructed to hold altitude at 11,000ft. KNKT states that, having received the air traffic control instruction to stay at this altitude, the pilot changed the autopilot from the pre-programmed strategic mode – using LNAV and VNAV, lateral and vertical navigation – to the tactical mode, enabling pilot-selectable heading and vertical speed. “Then the aircraft began to slowly turn left until it finally dived down and hit the sea surface,” it says. Story has more details.<br/>