Investigators: Co-pilot was flying AirAsia plane minutes before it triggered stall warning, crashed

A report has said that before AirAsia Flight QZ8501 went down into the Java Sea, the co-pilot was flying the plane as the more experienced pilot monitored the flight for a span of just three minutes and 20 seconds, before the aircraft triggered a stall warning that sounded until it crashed.

According to Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, things may have gone wrong in the three-minute-long duration, causing the plane to crash, reported the CNN.

It is not uncommon for the co-pilot to be in control of the aircraft, the report said.

The flight was carrying 162 people as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya toward Singapore on December 28.