The crew's response to malfunctioning equipment was among the major factors behind the AirAsia plane crash that claimed the lives of 162 people in December last year, Indonesian officials disclosed in a report issued Tuesday. 

Flight QZ8501 was on a routine flight from Surabaya to Singapore before it met stormy weather over the Java Sea and crashed into the waters southeast of Belitung, in the Java Sea, on Dec. 28, 2014.

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All passengers and crew were killed in the air disaster. Only 106 bodies have been retrieved so far.

In its final report on the crash, Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee said a cracked solder joint had caused the plane's rudder to malfunction four times during the flight.

The plane's maintenance crews were apparently aware of the problem.  The report cites the plane's maintenance records, which indicate the same piece of equipment had malfunctioned 23 times the previous year.  

The intervals between these malfunctions began to accelerate in the three months prior to the crash.

The report says the plane had banked sharply at one point, and the crew struggled to bring it back under control. 

"Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft," the report says. 

The plane instead went into a prolonged stall, after which it was impossible for the crew to carry out remedial measures, according to the report.

One investigator maintains that a weakness in pilot training contributed to the disaster.  Investigator Nurcahyo Utomo suggests that the crew was unable to control the aircraft -- an Airbus 320 -- after it was flung at an angle greater than 45 degrees.

"Our recommendation to AirAsia is to train their pilots flying the Airbus plane on how to make an upset recovery,"  Utomo said 

The investigator also cites recordings from the plane's black box.  He says the cockpit voice recorder  reveals how the captain had issued confusing instructions to the co-pilot, who was at the controls when the malfunction occurred. 

The report does not assign blame, according to the BBC, but is intended to help Indonesia's air industry avoid future accidents.

Sri Budi Siswardani lost her son Bhima Aly Wicaksana in the crash.  "The report today brought back all the trauma, grief and loss," she said, adding that she did not want to feel anger toward AirAsia. "What's the use of anger?"

AirAsia has carried out 51 measures to improve safety standards since the crash. 

TagsAirAsia, Flight QZ8501, plane crash, Indonesia