Co-pilot was flying AirAsia plane during crash

(Image credit: Oscar Siagian/Getty Images)

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee said Thursday that Remi Plesel, the co-pilot of AirAsia Flight 8501, was in control of the plane when it crashed into the Java Sea last month. The information comes from the black box recording after the flight data recorder was recovered earlier this month. The plane crashed en route from Surabaya to Singapore on Dec. 28, killing all 162 passengers.

The data recorder provided a "pretty clear picture" of what happened during the plane's crash, Mardjono Siswosuwarno, chief investigator for Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, told The Guardian. According to the data records, the flight climbed sharply before its descent, going from 32,000 feet to 37,400 feet in 30 seconds before dropping to 32,000 feet.