Soldiers carry the body of one of the victims of the crash. There is speculation as to what happened before the plane crashed. Image: The Telegraph.
There has been some progress in the case of the AirAsia plane that disappeared on its way from Indonesia to Singapore. The plane was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members. While they are yet to find the black box, the investigators have begun speculating on what transpired when the plane met its end on the fateful day.
A source that is close to the investigation has said that the plane was originally flying at 32 000 feet or 9,735m when it requested that they fly at a higher altitude in order to avoid bad weather. They asked for permission to fly at 38 000 feet but, according to the source, when the control center responded to the request, there was no acknowledgement from the pilot. What appears to be surprising to those close to the investigation is that the pilot did not issue any distress signal. However, the source, which has declined to be named, has suggested that more information will be required in order to come to a more precise conclusion.
There has been a more frantic discussion online among pilots and those in the aviation fraternity and the discussion has hinged on an unconfirmed radar monitoring in Malaysia, which suggested that the pilot had climbed up at a speed of 353 knots. This, they contend, indicates that the plane was traveling too slow and could also indicate that it may have stalled. This is in line with another contention that was arrived at by those that found the bodies of those that are suspected to have been passengers in the plane. They argue that the fact that the passengers were fully clothed, indicates that the plane was intact when it hit the surface of the sea. They further conclude that this could also indicate that the plane may have stalled. There were also earlier reports which have, however not been confirmed which said that one of the passengers whose body was recovered was wearing a life jacket and this has been interpreted to mean that passengers were aware of the danger that they were in, which could further lend credence to the argument that the plane actually stalled before it fell into the ocean. To further confirm this, other unconfirmed reports from those close to the case suggest that the pilot may have made a very steep climb before it crashed and this climb seems to have been beyond the limits of the aircraft.
