Garuda Mishap at Yogyakarta Airport

[Naim 6]

Wing flap failure in crash jet

Evidence supports pilots' claims

 

Mark Forbes and Aubery Belford

March 17, 2007

 

WING flaps on the Indonesian jet that crashed last week were not extended for landing, increasing the plane's speed and contributing to the catastrophe, material from flight recorders and the scene has indicated.

 

The new evidence supports claims by the two Garuda pilots the flaps were malfunctioning and they were unable to properly extend them in the vital seconds before landing.

 

Investigators have already concluded the plane hit the runway too fast, causing it to overshoot, crash and explode into flames. They have still not ruled out pilot error.

 

The head of the accident investigation team, Mardjomo Siswosumarno, told The Age measurements from the scene and data recorders showed the flaps "were not yet in the landing configuration". He warned it was too early to draw final conclusions as "we have to confirm and re-confirm".

 

"We need the history of the flight, what happened in the last three minutes before landing so we will have to take some time," he said.

 

One of the key elements of the investigation was the flap position, along with the pilots' actions in the minutes before impact, Mr Mardjomo said.

 

Sources said the cockpit voice recording, which is yet to be extracted by experts in the US, should provide clarification of the pilots' claims they were struggling unsuccessfully to lower the flaps for landing.

 

Mr Mardjomo said the investigation had found no evidence to support the pilots' claims a huge wind gust slammed the jet into the runway. The weather appeared to be calm at the time of the crash, he said.

 

The revelations about the wing flaps, which raise the prospect of equipment malfunction aboard the 15-year-old Boeing 737-400, will increase pressure on the Indonesian Government to introduce strict aviation safety guidelines.

 

Mr Mardjomo said the flaps had only been extended between 5 per cent to 10 per cent, when landing procedures required they be extended by 15 per cent to 20 per cent.

 

The previous head of Indonesia's air crash investigation team, Oetrajo Diran, said properly extending the flaps was crucial to execute a landing, as they slowed the aircraft as well as positioning it for touchdown.

 

Logically, the flaps not being fully lowered meant the plane would be travelling more quickly, Professor Diran said. "If the flaps are not down you don't have aerodynamic braking."

 

The experts agreed to comment on the flaps after photographs of the crashed plane's wings appeared on an aviation website.

 

Professor Diran said the position of the flaps following impact should reflect where they were prior to landing. "They should stay in position because they are not hydraulic, they wouldn't go back on their own."

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/evi...722750242.html#

[Radzi 2]

Flaps not in landing configuration could mean 2 things:

 

1. Mechanical problem. Happened to me once in SDK where the flaps becomes assymetrical. Go around, conduct the checklist and finally did a flap 15 landing.

 

2. Human error. Comes in too fast. Also happened to me once, in SBW. Can't extend the flap beyond 5 because the speed was too high. Swallow my pride and go around for another attempt. If I didn't go around, I wold've ended up at the end of the runway and made the news. Either I will now be ex-captain or worse, I'd now be "arwah" or "the late".

 

I don't want to be speculating but the indications are of unstabilized approach, for whatever reason. You must stabilize by 500 ft AGL (in the best condition) or else you should go around.

Edited March 16, 2007 by Radzi

[Rozhan 0]

Very enlightening Capt Radzi. I was fixated to the mechanics of the flaps and spoilers (and bucket reversers on B737-200s) when flying during younger days. Now I have learnt more of their importance.

[Naim 6]

Flaps not in landing configuration could mean 2 things:

 

1. Mechanical problem. Happened to me once in SDK where the flaps becomes assymetrical. Go around, conduct the checklist and finally did a flap 15 landing.

 

2. Human error. Comes in too fast. Also happened to me once, in SBW. Can't extend the flap beyond 5 because the speed was too high. Swallow my pride and go around for another attempt. If I didn't go around, I wold've ended up at the end of the runway and made the news. Either I will now be ex-captain or worse, I'd now be "arwah" or "the late".

 

I don't want to be speculating but the indications are of unstabilized approach, for whatever reason. You must stabilize by 500 ft AGL (in the best condition) or else you should go around.

 

Interesting stuff, bro. And also your mention of TO/GA button for unstabilized approach - found this story:

 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0UB..._18/ai_n6281158

 

+++

 

[LeeCH 0]

In my company, minimum height to further conduct an instrument approach is to be fully stabilized by 1000ft AGL, irregardless of weather condition. 500ft for Circuits and 300ft for circling approaches. Very safe. Not steady? Go around. Management will have no questions asked.

 

Break that rule and expect a phone call within one week for a coffee session in the office.....

[Naim 6]

Will they walk the talk?

 

+++

 

After spate of plane crashes, Indonesian authorities get tough

 

Monday • March 19, 2007

 

Fawziah Selamat

fawziah@mediacorp.com.sg

 

INDONESIA'S new air transport chief has threatened to close down all airlines which fail to meet safety standards within the next three months.

 

Mr Budhi Muliawan Suyitno said that the government would announce this week a new national rating system, following a review of commercial airlines operating in the country — and those at the bottom may be closed. "In the three-month period, we will give the airlines the chance to improve their compliance with safety regulations," he was reported as saying in the Jakarta Post yesterday. "We aim to secure zero-accident status within the next few years."

 

Meanwhile, the Media Indonesia newspaper quoted a source in the transport ministry as saying that the government was also planning to revoke the operation licence of 11 airlines, which have been inactive for months.

 

Public discontent has been mounting in the face of a string of recent accidents. Air safety in Indonesia is poor with a plane crash, a near miss, runway skipping, emergency landing or a technical problem emerging every 12 days on average last year. Earlier this year, a crash at sea killed 102 passengers and aircrew. This was followed by two crash landings — the most recent involving a Garuda jetliner at Yogjakarta, which left 21 dead.

 

Cheap, convenient and quick — airline travel in Indonesia has taken off at break-neck pace since the industry was deregulated in 1999. More than 54 million air passengers are expected to take to the skies annually by 2010, compared to only six million who flew eight years ago. This year, Indonesia's 16 domestic carriers expect 34 million passengers.

 

But weak regulations, outdated technology, poorly trained personnel and corruption, coupled with a lack of resources to rectify these problems, threaten to send the industry into a tailspin.

 

The blame game has already started, with fingers being pointed at cutthroat competition among budget airlines, which are alleged to have skimped on safety in their bid to keep costs down.

 

Calls have been made for the government to clean up and re-regulate the industry, but analysts say private and low-cost carriers are not the problem.

 

"We can install a good system, a system that has been successfully put into place by more developed nations. But that won't change anything if we don't have the people to run it," said Dr Danang Parikesit, a professor of transportation planning at Gadjah Mada University.

 

The Indonesia Transport Society, a think-tank, found that the number of inspectors assessing the flight-worthiness of planes increased by only 10 per cent in the last nine years, while domestic passenger volume have gone up by almost 600 per cent.

 

"Inspectors can easily be looking at a work-load that's more than five times what it was before de-regulation (of the industry). You can expect the quality of inspection to deteriorate and/or companies might be tempted to pay off officials so they can get their planes in the air faster," said Dr Danang, who is also the think-tank's secretary-general.

 

Analysts agree that Indonesia has the regulations needed to make air travel safe, but in a country prone to corruption, enforcing these regulations may be difficult.

 

Adding murkiness to Indonesia's already cloudy picture of air safety have been allegations by several pilots from Adam Air, one of the country's more successful carriers and the airline responsible for two disasters this year, that they were pressured to fly unsafe planes, doctor documents and ignore regulations.

 

No airline has yet been prosecuted for any safety breaches.

 

Where the government has failed, consumer groups have tried to fill the gap in lax regulations. They have filed a US$100 million civil suit against Adam Air on the grounds the airline compromised safety to keep prices low.

 

"It's never happened before in this country that when an airline makes a mistake, they are taken to court," Indonesian Consumers Foundation spokeswoman Indah Sukmaningsih, one of the figures behind the suit, was reported as saying. "In Indonesia, justice is often indifferent to rules."

 

Mr Frans Wenas, the head of Indonesia's transport ministry's safety committee, said collusion between operators and regulators happen all too frequently.

 

Dr Danang estimates it would take three to five years before Indonesia can hope to have an adequate supply of locally trained professionals to regulate the industry. "Until then, people should be brought in from other countries to fill the vacuum," he said.

 

Many of Indonesia's airports are also running above capacity while infrastructure, like runways and radars, have already been identified by the government as needing an overhaul.

 

The Transport Society estimates hundreds of millions of US dollars are needed to bring Indonesia's transport infrastructure up to scratch – money that might not come too easily for cash-strapped Indonesia.

 

But Mr Nicholas Ionides, Flight International's regional managing director, feels that with rising passenger numbers, the government should be able to raise enough money to manage its own airports. — Additional information from Agencies

 

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/178111.asp

 

 

[LeeCH 0]

Talk is easy. Look at the annually haze problem. Has been talked and will be talked. Nothing has changed.

[Andrew Ong 1]

Indonesia is very serious now about air safety

[Naim 6]

Indonesia To Announce Airline Ratings This Week

March 20, 2007

 

Indonesia will announce the results of an audit on airlines this week, the country's aviation chief said on Tuesday, amid pressure to improve air safety following a string of accidents in recent months.

 

A team set up by the government to evaluate transport safety following the disappearance of an Adam Air jet carrying 102 people in January has recommended that airlines found to have violated safety standards be closed.

 

Budhi Muliawan Suyitno, the director general of civil aviation at the transport ministry, said airlines would be rated and those in the unsafe category would be given time to improve before they were suspended or closed.

 

"There will be stages, a warning stage, suspension stage and closure stage," Suyitno said.

 

He did not say how much time airlines would be given to improve standards.

 

Officials are discussing details of the new measures and will announce the results of the recent airline audit this week, he said.

 

On March 7, 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 said the plane came in too fast to land but they still do not know why.

 

Air travel in Indonesia, a country of more than 17,000 islands, has grown substantially since the liberalization of the airline industry in 1999 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.

 

Indonesia is also grappling with problems in other modes of transportation.

 

There have been two serious ferry disasters in recent months killing hundreds of people, while rail accidents on an ageing system built during the Dutch colonial era occur frequently.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

No Airline Shutdown In Indonesia Ratings Report

 

March 22, 2007

No Indonesian airline will be closed after ratings of the carriers are announced on Thursday, the country's aviation chief said, amid pressure to improve air safety following a string of accidents in recent months.

 

A team set up by the government to evaluate transport safety following the disappearance of an Adam Air jet carrying 102 people in January has recommended that airlines found to have violated safety standards be shut down.

 

Budhi Muliawan Suyitno, the director general of civil aviation at the transport ministry, said 20 aviation companies had been put into three rating classes with the lowest batch for airlines that only meet minimal standards of safety.

 

"All airlines are in those three ratings. The third rating means they have fulfilled the minimum standard of civil aviation safety but they need to do other things," he told reporters at parliament.

 

"If they are in the third rating, they will receive warnings. If they do not perform in three months, then we will suspend them" from operations, Suyitno said.

 

Revoking the airline's licenses would be a final step.

 

On March 7, 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 have said the national carrier's plane came in too fast to land but they still do not know why.

 

Air travel in Indonesia, a sprawling country of more than 17,000 islands, has grown substantially since the liberalization of the airline industry in 1999 which triggered price wars among airlines.

 

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

 

(Reuters)

 

[Seng Lim 0]

March 23, 2007 - 5:56AM

 

Indonesia is giving six commercial airlines three months to improve safety standards or face closure, the country's aviation chief has said.

 

The audit was ordered by the government to evaluate transport safety following a string of deadly air accidents in recent months.

First an Adam Air jet carrying carrying 102 people disappeared in January, and on March 7 a Garuda plane overshot the runway and burst into flames, killing 21 people, including five Australians.

An audit of 54 aviation firms revealed that none of them made it to the first of three rating classes, said Budhi Muliawan Suyitno, the director general of civil aviation at the transport ministry.

Fifteen companies, including six scheduled passenger airlines, were placed in the lowest category and were considered to have met only minimal standards of safety.

National carrier Garuda Indonesia made the second grade.

Suyitno said airlines in the third category would be given warnings to improve standards in three months.

"If there's no improvement within three months, there will be a suspension order, and if there's still no improvement they will be shut down," he told reporters.

 

The airlines given three months to shape up were AdamAir, Kartika Airlines, Jatayu, Batavia, Trans Wisata Air and Dirgantara.

 

Air travel in Indonesia, a sprawling country of more than 17,000 islands, has grown substantially since the liberalisation of the airline industry in 1999, which triggered price wars among airlines.

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

Indonesia is also grappling with problems in other modes of transportation. There have been two serious ferry disasters in recent months killing hundreds of people, while rail accidents on an ageing system built during the Dutch colonial era occur frequently.

 

Reuters

[Edwin Lau 0]

Batavia Air oso kena........

[Daljit Singh 0]

Next after gng for aviation companies, the indonesian authorities must go after the airport management especially when it comes to the maintainence of runways. During my last visit to Medan i noticed that there were grass growing on the runway.... wonder will these give any effect on the safety of planes taking off and landing.

[Naim 6]

Garuda, Indonesia AirAsia and Mandala Airlines were among those which fell into Category 2, which found that they met minimal requirements of civil aviation safety regulations but some had not been implemented.

 

AirAsia also kena sikit2.

 

+++

 

Aussies warned against Indon planes

March 26, 2007 10:18am

 

THE Federal Government is warning Australian travellers to reconsider flying on Indonesian planes after a report found none of the country's airlines meet appropriate safety standards.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has urged travellers to take note of a new safety audit report of 54 aviation firms carried out by Indonesia's civil aviation authority,.

 

The assessment found that none of the 21 operators were found to be “Category 1”, meaning that none met “requirements of the civil aviation safety regulations”.

 

In an advisory posted on the smart traveller website, DFAT urged caution when travelling by air in the region.

 

Australians are “advised to take (the safety audit) into account and check with their travel agents when making travel plans in Indonesia”, the department bulletin said.

 

Garuda, Indonesia AirAsia and Mandala Airlines were among those which fell into Category 2, which found that they met minimal requirements of civil aviation safety regulations but some had not been implemented.

 

Six airlines, including Batavia Air, Adam Air and Kartika Airlines, were placed in the lowest Category 3, considered to have met only minimal safety standards and would be given three months to improve safety or risk being shut down.

 

The warning comes just weeks after 21 people including five Australians were killed when a Garuda Airlines Boeing 747-400 caught fire after overshooting the runway at Yogyakarta airport in Indonesia on March 7.

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...478-953,00.html

[Naim 6]

Candid interview with the DG for Air Transportation.

 

+++

 

Jakarta Post

 

Politicians meddle in airline industry, says air chief

 

National News - Monday, March 26, 2007

 

Following the string of airline accidents over the past few months, the Directorate General for Air Transportation announced Thursday its ratings of 20 private and state-owned airlines operating in the country. The Jakarta Post's .M. Taufiqurrahman spoke with the new Director General for Air Transportation, Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, on the sidelines of a recent Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) meeting about the country's aviation industry.

 

Question: Why is the assessment of the airline industry only now being conducted?

Answer: While the public is still waiting for the results of our investigation, we constantly expose them to news through the mass media. This is part of social education on transportation safety. We have been auditing these airlines for a long time and have closely watched them before coming up with these ratings. Based on their compliance with standards, the country's airlines have been grouped into three types. These are compliant airlines, which have rectified both major and minor infractions, non-compliant airlines, which have managed to better their performance in the given time and repeat offenders, which have repeatedly ignored safety regulations and made no effort to improve their performance. We will also give consumers a chance to evaluate airlines.

 

What will happen if airlines in the lowest category continue operating?

I have to remind you that air transportation is basically risk-ridden because it is capital intensive. It is a high-tech, high-speed and high-profile industry. Once an airplane takes off, we are at risk, so there's no room for error. To achieve levels of safety, operators need to follow safety regulations, they have to employ and utilize competent human resources. An operational director, for instance, has to know how to operate an airplane, a technical director has to know all about aviation technology. If an airplane is not airworthy, the airline's dispatcher should not give the green light. We have discovered grave infractions committed by these airlines. A number of airplanes have carried a limited amount of fuel, when the regulation clearly stipulates that reserve fuel is absolutely necessary in case the plane has to find an alternative airstrip, in addition to extra fuel needed for an emergency 30-minute flight. But most of the time, to cut costs, operators provide only enough fuel for one trip, so pilots are forced to land according to designated schedules and destinations regardless of runway and weather conditions. This is a deliberate infraction on airline safety regulations.

 

Has the age of airplanes contributed to accidents? Airlines abroad operate the same types of airplanes, of the same age, yet they reach zero-accident levels. If they can achieve this why can't we?

This is because of our own stupidity, the stupidity of our regulators, operators and consumers. Operators can not take the blame alone. The key is the regulator, it is the one that decides whether an airliner is allowed to operate. Frequently, politicians, elites and government officials put pressure on regulators to bend the rules. Coupled with vested interests, this has compromised airline safety standards.

 

What are the government's plans for poorly-performing airlines?

We will give them three months to improve their performance.

 

How will consumers rate the airliners' performance after the announcement is made?

We will make a special post box for consumers. But the point is that the public can make an assessment for themselves. They can't expect safety if they fly with low-cost carriers. The greatest flaw in our system is that our regulations are not detailed and have given rise to different interpretations. The devil lies in the details.

 

How did the airlines' maintenance departments perform in the ratings?

Some airlines performed well in maintenance. But we have discovered numerous grave infractions. Some of the airlines have resorted to the so-called "alternate means of compliance" and have tried to get around regulations governing the maintenance of their airplanes. For instance, safety standards require operators to clean air conditioner outlets once every six months or every 1,000 hours of flight time. But sometimes, operators cheat the regulations. We found that the outlets were often not cleaned even after 1,500 hours because the operator argued that it had not reached the mandatory six month period.

 

So future regulations should carry more details?

There should be no room for pilots to interpret regulations, because airplanes move at high speeds. If visibility is less than 500 feet, then pilots should not force a landing. Pilots may already be exhausted and should not be burdened with more things to think about. We know that most air accidents happen over the weekend because pilots are exhausted. They also occur early on weekdays, when pilots have not yet recovered from their holiday hangovers.

 

What other infractions are common among airlines?

I can only give you examples. We have found that manuals to be used only in classrooms are being used as operation manuals, which is ridiculous. During my inspection, I also found that some female flight attendants lived in cramped boarding houses. How can they work properly if they do not get enough sleep. The same is true for our pilots. Here, pilots are required to follow the wishes of company owners, not the flight manual. A flight simulator should be used by two pilots only, but to cut costs they are used by up to six pilots who are given their certificate after a 70-hour simulation.

 

How many airlines are currently under the ministry's watch?

There are 15 regular airlines and a number of chartered airlines. But you should know that chartered airlines uphold safety standards to the highest degree. I think this is because they have foreign-based technicians. Some employ former Federal Aviation Administration officials because they are contracted by foreign companies, which are strict on safety.

 

What is the difference between low-cost carriers here and abroad?

The basic concepts adhered to by our low-cost carriers are different from the principles adhered to by most no-frills airliners around the world. Abroad, budget airlines spend less money on non-safety components such as food, entertainment, executive salaries and on-line ticketing. Their CEOs work in a three-by-four room. But here, airlines operate the same way regular airlines work, but manage to apply cheaper fares. This has been achieved by violating safety regulations.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnation....H07&irec=6

[Pieter C. 5]

GA has ordered 25x 737-800's

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

GA has ordered 25x 737-800's

 

 

 

Indonesian aviation enthuisiasts can be happy with their modern fleet now...

[Andrew Ong 1]

GA has ordered 25x 737-800's

 

 

BTW, is it going to replace the older 733s and 734s?

[LeeCH 0]

 

BTW, is it going to replace the older 733s and 734s?

 

It doesn't matter really what aircraft if being replaced with what aircraft. It is the entire maintenance/pilot training/safe procedures/attitude being implemented thoroughly that matters.

[Andrew Ong 1]

It doesn't matter really what aircraft if being replaced with what aircraft. It is the entire maintenance/pilot training/safe procedures/attitude being implemented thoroughly that matters.

 

Thanks LeeCH for explaining it to me

[Tony 1]

It doesn't matter really what aircraft if being replaced with what aircraft. It is the entire maintenance/pilot training/safe procedures/attitude being implemented thoroughly that matters.

Agreed. There are many other airlines operating old 737s - take OzJet for example, operating 732s!

 

If the fleet is maintained up to par, if the people are well-trained and etc, there shouldn't be a problem. Think the Swiss Cheese model.

[Seng Lim 0]

Latest Update from : http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21484616-2,00.html

 

THE pilots of a Garuda airliner that crashed in Indonesia, killing 21 people including 5 Australians, were arguing moments before the accident, a senior Indonesian investigator has said.

 

Garuda Airlines Boeing 747-400 caught fire after overshooting the runway at Yogyakarta airport in Indonesia on March 7.

 

The chief Indonesian investigator Tatang Kurniadi today said the plane's black box recordings show the pilot and co-pilot were involved in an argument over the plane's speed and wing flaps moments before the crash.

He said his preliminary findings would point to human error, and "absent mindedness" as the cause of the disaster.

 

"Absent mindedness - I worry that this accident came from the absent-mindedness from the cockpit," Mr Kurniadi said on Channel 9's Sunday program.

 

The captain and first officer were flying together for the first time, he said.

 

"The co-pilot is a young pilot with just 2000 flying hours and the captain, experienced, having enough experience, more than 15,000 flying hours," the investigator said.

 

Mr Kurniadi said the black box revealed the captain and first officer were arguing just before the plane came down, with the co-pilot demanding the pilot "go around" and delay the landing.

"There was some argumentation between the co-pilot and the pilot and captain relating with the speed and flaps," he said.

 

Mr Kurniadi said the flaps did not jam, rather the co-pilot did not put them down properly because the plane was going too fast.

 

Mr Kurniadi and his team will finalise their results within a month.

[Kevin Teh 0]

"There was some argumentation between the co-pilot and the pilot and captain relating with the speed and flaps," he said.

 

Mr Kurniadi said the flaps did not jam, rather the co-pilot did not put them down properly because the plane was going too fast.

 

3 ppl flying?

[Seng Lim 0]

Well there are plenty of mistakes in that article as well, B737-400 has turned out as B747-400.

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Who calls for go-around? PF or PNF?

 

Arguement... <_>