The co-pilot was at the controls of the doomed AirAsia flight just before it plunged into the ocean, Indonesia's lead investigator revealed today. The Airbus A320 vanished from radar screens in bad weather on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board. Second-in-command Remi Plesel was flying Flight QZ8501 prior to it crashing into the sea, not Captain Iriyanto - an experienced former military jet pilot - head National Transport Safety Committee (NTSC) investigator Mardjono Siswosuwarno announced today. Cpt Iriyanto, 53, is believed to have taken over control of the aircraft from First Officer Plesel when it started to ascend and then descend sharply, officials said.
@highlight
Second-in-command Remi Plesel was flying pane before it crashed into sea
@highlight
Captain Iriyanto, an experienced former military jet pilot, was 'monitoring'
@highlight
He's thought to have taken  control from Plesel when plane began to ascend
@highlight
Co-pilot had 2,275 flying hours when Flight QZ8501 crashed in December
@highlight
Search for victims could end within days if no more bodies were found
He had more than 20,000 flying hours, of which 6,100 were with AirAisa on the @placeholder 320.