More confirmation had came out. The dead head pilot indeed had prevented the plane from a possible crash on its penultimate flight.
Indonesian officials confirm presence of guest pilot who reportedly saved Lion Air plane day before its fatal crash
...Indonesian investigators on Thursday confirmed the presence in the cockpit of an off-duty pilot reported to have saved a troubled Lion Air flight the day before the same plane crashed on Oct. 29...
...“The third pilot, who has not been identified, was qualified to fly Max 8s and was deadheading aboard the Oct. 28 flight from Bali’s Denpasar airport to Jakarta,” said Soerjanto Tjahjono, the head of Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee, referring to the practice of company employees traveling free of charge. “The aircraft encountered the same problems that appear to have caused it to crash a day later.”...
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