According to experienced former military jet pilot Captain Iriyanto, AirAsia flight QZ8501 may have performed a successful emergency water landing only for the aircraft to be overcome by huge waves.
As is common with such tragic air disasters as the recent AirAsia crash, numerous theories as to the reasons for the crash surface on the internet, as aviation experts attempt to put the pieces of jigsaw puzzle together.
Especially, as in this case, where the black box has still not been located, it is almost impossible to know for sure whether it was a case of human error or other factors.
The basis for the theory , that the plane may have made a successful emergency landing in the sea, is due to the fact that the aircraft’s ELT did not set off on impact.
As Dudi Sudibyo, a senior editor of aviation magazine Angkasa , said, “The emergency locator transmitter (ELT) would work on impact, be that land, sea or the sides of a mountain, and my analysis is it didn’t work because there was no major impact during landing. The pilot managed to land it on the sea’s surface.”
According to other theorists, the AirAsia jet rose up as fast as a fighter jet and then dropped almost vertically into the water as if being thrust down by a giant hand.
Some conclude that the plane was in the grip of weather so extreme that there was nothing the pilots could have done to save the aircraft and passengers.
The new theories came as the first victim of the crash, Hayati Lutfiah Hamid’s remains were handed over to her family in emotional scenes at a hospital in Surabaya.
According to officials and flight crash investigation teams, as AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed in shallow waters, the black boxes should not be difficult to find, as their locator beacons, with a range of 2,000 to 3,000 meters, have a battery life of about 30 days.
Due to the fact it’s the peak of Indonesia’s rainy season at the moment, rough seas and driving rain have forced search teams to call off operations several times already.