Garuda Mishap at Yogyakarta Airport

[KK Lee 5]

What about this then?

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/03/02/phones/index.html

 

+++

 

If cellphone is in the cockpit, I will agree that it may interfere with instruments. However, the same article also quoted ‘from December 2006, following revisions by U.S. federal regulators that will permit flights to carry onboard transmitters linking aircraft to satellites and allowing passengers to use mobile phones as normal’.

 

 

[Pieter C. 5]

While not necessarily related to this accident, I'd like to believe a captain of an aircraft can exercise his / her right to refuse to fly an aircraft deemed to be unsafe or has unattended serious problems in previous flights, and be immune to company reprimanding him or her for having the safety interests of passengers and crew way above company's profit interests.

 

You're absolutely right there, Rozhan, and it's happening a few times a week (with my airline)

 

Better safe than sorry !!!

 

[Keith T 2]

The 5 Aussie journos and government officials who were feared dead have now joined the death toll. RIP to all crash victims.

 

Meanwhile this could provide vital clues to the investigation:

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/mis...3548021770.html

 

'Missing' passenger walked away

 

Mark Forbes, Jakarta

March 12, 2007

 

ALESSANDRO Bertellotti glanced back from the rice field at the blazing Garuda jet that had carried him to Yogyakarta on Wednesday, then took a cab into town, bought clothes to replace those splattered with his blood and decided to use his return ticket to Jakarta that afternoon.

 

He believed he could never face flying again if he delayed.

 

Mr Bertellotti flew home to his flat in St Kilda on Friday, unaware he was the mysterious 10th Australian who disappeared from the crash site, sparking confusion and consternation.

 

Mr Bertellotti's lucid memories of the final minutes of the flight may cast a clearer picture on the causes of the crash.

 

Mr Bertellotti, a veteran air traveller, was seated four rows back from the wing as the Boeing 737-400 came into Yogyakarta too fast. He could clearly see the air brakes above the wing raised, but it appeared the main wing flaps below were not extended.

 

...more in article

Edited March 11, 2007 by Keith T

[Naim 6]

LATEST ...

 

#1

Black box sent to US to save voice records

 

Craig Skehan and Stuart Wilkinson in Yogyakarta

March 12, 2007

 

A FLIGHT recorder from the Garuda jet that crashed last Wednesday, killing 21 people including five Australians, is being rushed to the United States in an effort to recover vital voice recordings of the pilot and co-pilot.

 

A lot of information, including 53 hours of aircraft operations and 200 "engineering parameters", was able to be downloaded by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in Canberra. But recordings made through microphones attached to the flight crew's headphones, as well as a microphone in the roof of the cockpit, could not be recovered.

 

Alan Stray, deputy director of information and investigations for the bureau, said a senior investigator from Canberra would carry the cockpit voice recorder to the Honeywell plant in Seattle, where it was manufactured, and supervise the downloading.

 

Patience was needed. "One mistake can destroy the information," Mr Stray said at the airport crash site in Yogyakarta, about 440 kilometres from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

 

The pilot of Garuda flight GA200, Marwoto Komar, has told Indonesian union representatives that the Boeing 737 was caught in a down draught.

 

He had been unable to fully extend the wing flaps, which provide resistance to slow down during landings as well as lift aircraft.

 

The pilot and co-pilot were detained at the national police headquarters in Jakarta after being transferred from Yogyakarta.

 

Mr Stray said yesterday the information already downloaded from the flight data recorder covered settings in relation to flaps, brakes and power as well as air speed and many other engineering functions. All of this information had to be matched with other data as well as physical evidence, he said.

 

"This is a very early stage. We want to analyse it very carefully. It is far too early to release any data, otherwise it could be misused," he said.

 

Mr Stray said it was "not uncommon" for flight recorders to be sent back to the manufacturer as a part of accident investigations. He said the cockpit voice recorder was expected to arrive in Seattle last night, US time, and it was hoped the information could be recovered within days.

 

Also yesterday, the operations manager at Yogyakarta airport was reported by Indonesian media as saying that as a result of the Garuda crash, plans to extend the runway from 2199 metres to 2500 metres were being brought forward. This had not been due to happen for another 10 years, he said, but was now a top priority.

 

Iwan Marantika, the president of the Yogyakarta branch of the Indonesian Marketing Association, said: "I always felt scared taking off or landing at Yogyakarta airport because the runway is short and uneven."

 

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/black-box...548020125.html#

 

SOME EXCERPTS ...

 

#2

...

Both recorders were recovered from the Boeing 737, which crashed on landing at Yogyakarta airport last Wednesday, killing 21 people, including five Australians.

 

"ATSB investigators have been working throughout the weekend with the US-based cockpit voice recorder manufacturer, Honeywell, to try and download data from the CVR," the bureau's executive director, Kym Bills, said yesterday.

 

"But, unfortunately, we've been unsuccessful . . . and an ATSB investigator is now taking that memory module to Seattle to attempt specialist recovery there.

 

"We've got a large range of equipment here, but this one (voice recorder) is unusual and has been unable to be downloaded." Despite the setback, the ATSB, which is helping Indonesian authorities investigate the crash, successfully retrieved information from the aircraft's other black box, the flight data recorder.

 

"The ATSB has provided the NTSC (National Transportation Safety Committee) of Indonesia with 30 pages of initial FDR data and plots, including the aircraft's speed, vertical acceleration, flap settings and the wind experienced during the accident sequence," Mr Bills said.

 

He was unable to say whether the information yielded answers as to the cause of Wednesday's crash, and would not be drawn on reports the aircraft's brakes had been repaired a day before its fatal journey.

...

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0...5006301,00.html

#3

...

The two pilots at the controls of Flight 200 have rejected claims that they lied about the crash, their lawyer said yesterday.

 

Witnesses said the jet was travelling too fast; but the pilots blamed a huge wind gust.

 

Lawyer Mohammed Assegaf said the pilots were ready for police interview.

 

He said Capt Marwoto Komar had told him: "Why would I lie? I wouldn't lie. Everything is recorded on the black box, so what for I lie?"

 

Capt Komar and co-pilot Gagam Saman Rohmana were treated by a psychiatrist and doctor on the weekend.

 

Psychiatrist Dr Hindrayanto said the pilots were not suicidal.

 

He said they were distressed at what had happened, but had at no stage expressed any desire to end their lives.

...

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...993-661,00.html

 

 

 

[KK Lee 5]

He had been unable to fully extend the wing flaps, which provide resistance to slow down during landings as well as lift aircraft.

 

Down draught doesn’t effect flap setting and full flap is selected a few km out. Don’t see the reason why the pilot didn’t select full flap for landing.

 

May be the terminal is at the end of the runway, he was in the rush and landed beyond the threshold or forgot to extend the flap.

 

 

 

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Cellphone is banned from inflight because the speed of aircraft may confuse telco switching system.

 

Which is why turn-cellphone-off-in-flight is an FCC regulation instead of an FAA, huh?

 

 

Down draught doesn’t effect flap setting and full flap is selected a few km out. Don’t see the reason why the pilot didn’t select full flap for landing.

 

May be the terminal is at the end of the runway, he was in the rush and landed beyond the threshold or forgot to extend the flap.

 

Better be safe than quick. There is always the "abandon landing" option when the approach is in jeopardy. This applies especially to a "short and uneven" runway as in Yogyakarta... Gosh!

[Attan 0]

Jogja is more of a military airport than a civil one. Some pics of the traffic there taken by me in Sep 2006 can be viewed at:

 

http://www.rsfc.com.my/BULphotos.html

 

The Jogja pics begin with the "Free Lunch" and ends with the "Batavia Air" baby Boeing.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Attan

[Naim 6]

Jogja is more of a military airport than a civil one. Some pics of the traffic there taken by me in Sep 2006 can be viewed at:

 

http://www.rsfc.com.my/BULphotos.html

 

The Jogja pics begin with the "Free Lunch" and ends with the "Batavia Air" baby Boeing.

 

Great pics Attan, esp. the one on 'entertainment'.

 

+++

[Pieter C. 5]

Great pics Attan, esp. the one on 'entertainment'.

 

aduh ya, bagusnya

 

[Naim 6]

Eyewitness account.

 

+++

 

Screams as plane bounced

 

By Alessandro Bertellotti

 

March 13, 2007 12:00

Article from: The Daily Telegraph

 

JOURNALIST Alessandro Bertellotti, identified as the mysterious 10th Australian on the crashed Garuda plane, has told of his ordeal.

 

Meanwhile one of the injured Australians, journalist Cynthia Banham, has had one leg amputated and lost part of the other in a life-saving operation. Read more here.

 

I WAS in Indonesia for a cultural conference about the 2006 earthquake in Yogyakarta. I was planning to be there for just one day.

 

I got up really early because the flight was at 6am.

 

We boarded and everything was normal. If there was something wrong, nobody noticed.

 

Things suddenly got out of control as we headed towards the airport.

 

The last 10 seconds before landing were a nightmare.

 

We were definitely travelling too fast. I've never seen a landing done at that speed.

 

When the pilot announced we were landing, I saw one of the crew members look outside. She was shocked to see we were flying over houses already.

 

People were screaming and shouting because we bounced on the tarmac a couple of times.

 

I put my head forward – in the brace position – and then we crashed.

 

The sound was very noisy, like air compressing. People, objects and seats were flying around and I saw a fire starting on the right side of the plane.

 

I moved towards a light at the back of the plane.

 

Outside . . . I walked a few metres and then turned around to check if anyone needed help.

 

Paramedics asked me if I needed some help or if I wanted to go to the hospital. But I was lucky, just a cut lip.

 

Later I caught a shuttle van to my hotel. They . . . suggested I go back to the airport to let the staff know I was safe.

 

So we went back to the airport and I gave my details. It was less than an hour after the crash.

 

Afterwards I went to a store to buy some clothes because my bags were lost in the fire.

 

Later, I was contacted by the embassy of Italy in Jakarta. I asked (them) to contact the Australian embassy to let them know I was fine.

 

That evening I got on a 6.40pm flight to Jakarta.

 

I was the last passenger to get on. I was waiting, pretending not to be nervous.

 

Finally there was a crew member who, without pushing, walked with me to the plane. They knew I had been involved in the crash that morning.

 

Thankfully, everything was fine and the landing was perfect. I actually had a little nap because I was so tired. I took another flight home on Friday.

 

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5001021,00.html

[Sherman 0]

....

People were screaming and shouting because we bounced on the tarmac a couple of times.

....

 

 

not bad... good journalism...

[Andrew Ong 1]

Garuda is giving out the token of sympathy to all of the passengers of GA200 (from their website):

 

GARUDA INDONESIA HANDOVER THE TOKEN OF SYMPATHY TO ALL GA 200 PASSENGERS

 

On Monday (12/3) Garuda Indonesia is promptly handing over a token of sympathy in the form of Rp 25.000.000,- cash to each of 20 GA 200 passengers residing in Jakarta. The handover is a continuation of similar action taken by Garuda Indonesia starting on Saturday (10/3). While for passengers residing outside Jakarta or abroad, such as Japan, Australia etc shall promptly be delivered by Garuda Indonesia Head of the respective branch offices.

 

Up to Sunday (11/3) Garuda Indonesia have delivered the token of symphaty to 76 passengers of GA 200. The reaiming 57 passengers shall receive theirs starting monday (12/3).

 

The delivery of the token of sympathy have started since saturday (10/3) and it is done by visiting the residence of GA 200 passengers or the hospitals where the injured or wounded passengers are treated. Among the 76 passengers who have received the token of sympathy, some 45 passengers reside in Jakarta, 26 in Yogyakarta, 2 in Klaten, 1 in Solo, 1 in Kebumen, and 1 in Magelang.

 

On the other hand, for the deceased passengers of GA 200, Garuda Indonesia have decided to indemnify some Rp 600.000.000,- to each of all the deceased passengers as the token of deep Mourning. As for the injured and wounded passengers, Garuda Indonesia, which is in the middle of negotiation process with the insurance company, is negotiating the feasible amount to be distributed to each injured or wounded passengers, including the GA-200 passengers baggage indemnification.

 

There are 9 passengers being treated at several Yogyakarta’s hospitals of : Bethesda hospital 4 passengers, Panti Rapih hospital 3 passenger and Dr. Sardjito hospital 2 passengers until Monday (11/3).

 

According to the mutual agreement made among Indonesian Safety Commision of Transportation (KNKT), Yogjakarta’s Adi Sutjipto Airport Administrator and Garuda Indonesia, it is stated that starting Saturday (10/3), the wreckage of GA-200 aircraft will gradually be removed to Yogjakarta’s Indonesian Air Force hanggar at Adi Sutjipto Airport. The removal process is scheduled to complete within a few days.

 

That's very good and considerate of Garuda visiting the hospital rooms or homes of the injured passengers and give the token of sympathy to the families of the injured passengers

[Sandeep G 1]

Garuda is giving out the token of sympathy to all of the passengers of GA200 (from their website):

That's very good and considerate of Garuda visiting the hospital rooms or homes of the injured passengers and give the token of sympathy to the families of the injured passengers

 

 

yeah, but too little too late... what about the families that lost loved ones... Another sad day in Aviation. It's very difficult for airlines to redeem themselves in cases like this... what would you consider as enough 'compensation'? I'm sure all the pax and families will still sue.

[Naim 6]

Pilot Marwoto Komar arrives at Yogyakarta's central police station.

 

Pilot Marwoto Komar talks with police.

 

Co-pilot Gaegam talks with police.

 

+++

Indonesian police question pilots in crash probe

 

By Mita Valina Liem

 

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian police on Tuesday questioned the pilots of an airliner that crash landed in central Java last week as a transport expert raised questions about rescue efforts. Garuda Indonesia flight GA200, which had 140 people on board, overshot the runway in Yogyakarta on Wednesday and burst into flames in a paddy field, killing 21 people including five Australians.

Click here to find out more!

 

The pilots escaped without major injuries, but aviation investigators have so far not been able to glean much information from them because of their traumatised state.

 

The pilots showed up at the Yogyakarta police headquarters voluntarily, said police spokesman Budi Santoso.

 

"They are available for questioning because they feel well, even though they are still a bit traumatised," Santoso said.

 

Antara news agency quoted co-pilot Gagam Rahman as saying he was asked 10 questions, but did not elaborate.

 

The cockpit voice recorder from the aircraft has been sent to the United States after Australian experts failed to retrieve crucial information.

 

But Australian investigators said they had extracted flight data including the speed of the plane, its vertical acceleration, flap settings and wind speed.

 

Wahyu Supriantono, chairman of the Indonesian Aircraft Technicians Association, questioned why so many people were killed, saying fire-fighters should have used halon instead of water when the flames were still small.

 

"Why didn't they pay attention to how people tried to save the passengers? Why was the rescue not fast enough?" he told Reuters.

 

"And the escape slides, if they had been operated, and had the cabin crew not been outside the plane, nobody had to die."

 

Frans Wenas, a senior investigator from the National Transport and Safety Commission, said his team was investigating whether the failure to operate the slides was due to damage caused by the accident or "the cabin crew's carelessness".

 

"Crews should exit only after all passengers have been evacuated, that is the rule," he said by telephone.

 

But he said it was "too early to judge".

 

"Who knows, parts of the plane were badly burnt and that made the crew leave the plane," he said.

 

Indonesia has suffered a string of transport accidents in recent months. An Adam Air plane disappeared in January with 102 people on board and a ferry sank in December killing hundreds.

 

A special team set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in January to review Indonesia's transport situation said on Monday that it had found that safety levels in the country have fallen since the deregulation of the sector.

 

"Our safety level is low and this was caused by the 2001 (airline) deregulations. We found systemic weaknesses in funding and human resources," said the team's spokesman, Oetardjo Diran.

 

Air travel in Indonesia, a country of more than 17,000 islands, has grown substantially since the liberalisation of the airline industry that has triggered price wars among airlines.

 

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Pathoni)

 

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=394922007

Edited March 13, 2007 by Naim

[Naim 6]

Weather 'calm' as GA200 landed

 

March 13, 2007 09:15pm

Article from: AAP

 

AIR traffic control transcripts contradict claims by the pilots of doomed Garuda airlines flight 200 that a sudden downdraft was to blame for the crash.

 

The Boeing 737 erupted into a fireball when it overshot the runway upon landing at Yogyakarta airport last Wednesday, killing 21 people, including five Australians.

 

Airport documents obtained by ABC television show weather conditions at the airport were calm just moments before the plane attempted to land.

 

The pilots did not report any mechanical malfunctioning or weather complaints as they approached the landing, according to the transcript of communications between the control tower and Garuda flight 200.

 

The communications sequence shows the control tower confirmed to the pilots at 6.55am local time that the surface wind at Yogyakarta airport was calm, before authorising the plane to continue its approach.

 

One minute later, the tower again told flight 200 the wind conditions were calm, and asked the pilots to check the aircraft's landing gear was down and locked before declaring the plane clear to land.

 

The pilots of the Garuda jet then acknowledged they were clear to land, in what was the final contact between the aircraft and the control tower before the fatal crash.

 

Less than one minute later the jet crashed and burst into flames.

 

Responding to a query from another aircraft about what had happened, the control tower's radar controller replied: “Yes sir, I think flight 200 went down at the end of the runway”.

 

Indonesian aviation expert Gerry Soejatman said the transcripts showed there was nothing to suggest anything was wrong as Garuda flight 200 came in to land.

 

“No indications of any abnormalities, no words about malfunctions were reported,” he told ABC television.

 

“Just the standard conversations for approach and landing.”

 

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21...5005361,00.html

 

[Naim 6]

From The Australian ...

 

 

Crash pilots' voice recordings contradict wind gust claims

 

* Stephen Fitzpatrick

* March 14, 2007

 

...

 

According to the still-secret log of control tower communications with pilots using Yogyakarta airspace last Wednesday, Komar and Rachman made an unremarkable descent with visual identification of the runway established about 16km from their destination.

 

At 23.52 GMT, or 7.52am local time, the plane was given clearance to descend to 2500ft in preparation to land.

 

At the same time, a military flight bound for Jakarta was given immediate permission to leave the airport with the instruction: "Wind calm cleared for takeoff."

 

Another aircraft, an air force Bravo Mentor training plane with the callsign J-406, was also given clearance to take off; its pilot was informed that the doomed Boeing was still several kilometres from its destination and on its final approach.

 

Asked whether he was ready to make an immediate takeoff, the pilot of J-406 answered: "Affirmative," and was told "clear for line up report ready".

 

The Boeing was at this point just 11km away, in clear sight of the runway and with nothing reported amiss.

 

GA200 was then ordered by the tower at 7.56am to confirm its final landing preparations.

 

"GIA200 wind calm check gear down and lock clear to land," was the instruction from the control tower, to which the Garuda pilots answered: "Clear to land GIA200."

 

That was the final communication between tower and flight deck; the log then shows at 7.37am and 50 seconds - barely more than a minute later - the single entry: GIA200 CRASH LANDING.

 

The log then shows a car - most likely a rescue vehicle - immediately requesting permission to enter the restricted runway space. Permission is given with a simple "VCP silahkaan (please go ahead)".

 

The pilot of the training plane J-406 had by this time cleared the takeoff air space and had looked below him and seen the flaming wreckage. He asked the control tower: "Sir, what is that at the end of the runway?"

 

The answer: "Yes, sir, it appears (flight) 200 has crashed sir, at the end of the runway, sir."

 

Weather conditions, according to meteorological data notes compiled in the control tower, were good at the time of the crash: visibility was at least 5000m despite an amount of air haze and there were no wind gusts recorded.

 

...

 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...293-601,00.html

[Radzi 2]

I wonder if this incident turns out to be one of those dreaded "unstabilized approach" incidents. Something that could've been avoided by a press on the TO/GA button. Something that would've put the blame squarely on the crew.

 

If it is then it is a very very sad thing.

Edited March 13, 2007 by Radzi

[Pieter C. 5]

Tower Chat Shows Calm Before Garuda Crash

 

March 14, 2007

Transcripts of control tower conversations with the pilots of a crashed Garuda Indonesia passenger jet showed no adverse conditions as it prepared to land, Australian newspapers reported on Wednesday.

 

Twenty-one people including five Australians were killed last week when Garuda flight GA200 overshot the runway and burst into flames at Yogyakarta Airport in central Java.

 

"GIA 200. Wind calm. Check gear down and lock. Clear to land," the tower official told the crew, according to the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper.

 

"Clear to land GIA 200," the cockpit crew replied. One minute later the aircraft slammed hard into the bumpy Yogyakarta runway.

 

Just four minutes before the crash an Indonesian military flight to Jakarta was given clearance for takeoff by the tower, which again reported "wind calm", the transcript said.

 

The tower transcripts were carried in several Australian newspapers.

 

The cockpit voice recorder from the aircraft has been sent to the United States after Australian experts failed to retrieve crucial information.

 

But Australian investigators said they had extracted crucial information from the plane's flight data recorder, including the speed of the plane, its vertical acceleration, flap settings and wind speed.

 

The five Australians killed in the crash -- two Australian Federal Police agents, a journalist and two Jakarta embassy employees -- were on the plane to help with a visit by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to Yogyakarta later that day.

 

Their bodies were returned to Canberra on Wednesday in a military C-130.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Aaron Goh 1]

Is it common for ATC to say gear down and lock?

Sounds like high and fast on approach.....alamak

Maybe landed too fast not enough runway to stop.....

[Radzi 2]

GIA 200? To my knowledge the callsign for Garuda is "Indonesian".

 

"Gear down, 3 greens" is usually used by military controllers like in KUA and LBU.

[Radzi 2]

Sounds like high and fast on approach.....alamak

 

That is unstabilized approach.

 

[Peter Smith 1]

There is talk that a hydraulic brake failure the day before on this bird may have lead to a flap failure and hence the high speed appr.

 

There is so many theories being thrown around at the moment its hard to keep up and in many ways the Australian media as with anything that happens in Indonesia certainly doesn't ease the fire, infact they stoke more and more. It also doesn't help when the media takes what "back seat pilots" (ie pax) and runs with it as gospel.

 

Oh and while talking of back seat pilots, like the first time flyer on the "Malaysian 124" incident last year, the ATSB now released their final report, it can be viewed going to: HERE!

 

I await the final investigation of "Indonesian 200" and hope that as a result Indonesia clamps down on maintenance requirements and that the majors help, as the current RP to US conversion is the killer, and hence the reason why some things are missed during checks.

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Why would ATC remind landing aircrafts to make sure gear is down and locked? Especialli military, as Capt. Radzi mentioned?

 

Is it not possible a sudden wind come when previously it is reported calm? Also, it could be possible a small part of the airspace sees sudden wind (just 20 seconds, maybe) and the weather radar doesn't detect. I mean, I'm just curious, it's like everyone (the media) is focusing on the wind-calm thingy and subsequently creating a chain reaction where every others start to say "well, you're lying, pilot..."

[Pieter C. 5]

Indonesian Experts Urge Aviation Revamp

 

March 15, 2007

Indonesia must revamp its air transport sector and shut down airlines that ignore safety regulations, a team of experts said on Thursday, following a string of deadly accidents in recent months.

 

The team, commissioned by the government after a passenger jet with 102 people on board disappeared in January, said safety standards had deteriorated since the deregulation of the aviation sector in the late 1990s.

 

"Revamp the management of transport operators, liquidate operators that ignore safety rules and regulations," the experts said in a statement.

 

The team led by former Air Force commander Chappy Hakim called for a comprehensive reorganization of air transport regulating bodies, stressing the need to "put the right man in the right place."

 

"Licenses issued by regulators must be based on rules and regulation, not on negotiations and trade-offs," it said.

 

The state Antara news agency quoted Hakim as saying that a practice of bribing regulators to get operating licenses was believed to have existed since the aviation industry was deregulated.

 

Last week, a Garuda Indonesia plane with 140 people on board overshot the runway in cultural capital Yogyakarta and burst into flames, killing 21 people including five Australians.

 

Investigators are questioning the pilots and the cabin crew to see if human error was involved in the accident.

 

The experts urged the government to improve training of pilots and other aviation personnel, build better facilities at airports and ensure aircraft spare parts were available.

 

The team also said the National Transport Safety Board should become an independent body answerable to the president, instead of being placed under the transport ministry.

 

Air travel in Indonesia, a country of more than 17,000 islands, has grown substantially since the liberalization of the airline industry that has triggered price wars among airlines.

 

The rapid growth has raised questions over whether safety has been compromised and if the infrastructure and personnel can cope with the huge increase.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Khaled 2]

Is it not possible a sudden wind come when previously it is reported calm? Also, it could be possible a small part of the airspace sees sudden wind (just 20 seconds, maybe) and the weather radar doesn't detect. I mean, I'm just curious, it's like everyone (the media) is focusing on the wind-calm thingy and subsequently creating a chain reaction where every others start to say "well, you're lying, pilot..."

 

 

If the airspeed exceeds the flap max extension speed, then the flap relief valve will prevent it from extending further.

I've came across a few airport when there's strong wind but they reported as wind calm. I personally think that the ATC in Indonesia play some part in the unstabilized approach. In the end it is up to the flight crew to decide.

 

Lets wait for the FDR...

Edited March 15, 2007 by Khaled