AirAsia Indonesia No Permits: Pilot Denied Flying At 38,000ft Bec. Of High Traffic On Sunday? Tragedy Could Have Been Averted

AirAsia Indonesia No Permits: Pilot Denied Flying At 38,000ft Bec. Of High Traffic On Sunday? Tragedy Could Have Been Averted.

Indonesia's transport minister, Ignasius Jonan ordered pre-departure briefings for all pilots on international flights from flight operation officers. Jonan called for the suspension officials on duty while AirAsia flight QZ8501 took off before its crash, AP-Dow Jones reported.

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said in a leaked report that the AirAsia pilot and the French co-pilot did not receive the mandatory weather reports ahead of takeoff. But the watchdog said bad weather seems to have been one factor in the cause of the crash.

The pilot had requested for a change in altitude to fly higher at 38,000 feet. The request was denied due to high traffic and because the A 320 Airbus was not made to fly at those altitudes. Since the AirAsia QZ 8501 had no permit to fly on Sundays, this could have been a reason for the 8501 to find itself without room at the area where it went missing - 'The Thunderstorm Factory.'

The Independent quoted a report by U.S. safety regulators, the FAA highlighting 'concerns about degradation of pilot knowledge and skills.'  "Use of automated systems has not replaced the need for basic knowledge and skills, including hand flying, instrument cross-check, system knowledge and maintaining situation awareness and aircraft state awareness," warned the  FAA's Flight Deck Automation Working Group.

According to a report "I will facilitate the families of the victims who want to see the scene directly and how rescuers are battling high waves and bad weather to search for their loved ones and the plane," said Gen. Moeldoko, Indonesia's top military commander. "We'll prepare two aircraft and a warship for them to go there and throw flowers."