Pilots shocked at Garuda charges

SMH
February 5, 2008
Indonesia's Pilots Federation today expressed shock that a Garuda pilot had been charged over a crash which killed 21 people, including five Australians.
Indonesian pilots are expected to visit parliament today to protest against the move, and urge authorities to establish a special aviation court instead.
Pilot Marwoto Komar was reportedly charged with six counts of manslaughter last night after a lengthy interrogation over the Yogyakarta crash.
He could face up to seven years imprisonment if convicted.
Indonesia has a terrible aviation safety record with frequent mishaps and accidents.
A week ago a plane hit a calf on a runway in Papua, although no-one on board was injured.
But Pilot Federation president Manotar Napitupulu said it was the first time a pilot in Indonesia had been charged with criminal offences over a crash.
"I was surprised that he was arrested," Napitupulu told Indonesia's El Shinta radio.
"Even when he became a suspect, I was planning to protest, but now he is already detained.
"This makes all pilots uneasy.
"We are planning to go to parliament today to ask them to settle this case in an aviation court, and suggest they form an aviation court.
"He's been charged as a criminal in this case - why didn't they find out why he speeded up. They never looked at why."
The Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737, carrying 140 passengers and crew, slammed hard onto the runway in the central Java city of Yogyakarta on March 7, careened off the end of the runway into rice paddies and burst into flames.
Five Australians travelling to Yogyakarta for a visit by then Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer were among those killed.
A final report into the accident by Indonesia's National Transport Safety Committee (KNKT) last year said the pilot was so "fixated" with landing that he ignored 15 alarms and alerts and the pleas of his copilot warning he was coming in too fast.
Komar's lawyer Mohammad Assegaf yesterday said that charging the pilot would set a "bad precedent" in Indonesia and make other pilots reluctant to fly.