Mark Forbes in Yogyakarta
SMH, September 16, 2008
TALES of flames and pain flowed in a Yogyakarta courtroom yesterday as witnesses and survivors recounted last year's Garuda plane crash during the trial of the pilot Marwoto Komar.
A softly spoken rice farmer, Mr Sarwandi, spoke of seeing the Boeing 737 hurtling towards the end of the runway, before crashing through an airport fence and ploughing into his paddy field, stopping just 50 metres away.
The 37-year-old denies being a hero, but he ran towards the exploding wreckage to help. There he found the Herald's Cynthia Banham, her back broken and legs badly burned.
"She was mumbling, like in real pain," Mr Sarwandi said. "I saw her already laying on the rice field, so I dragged her away to a place far from the plane and then others helped her."
Mr Sarwandi returned three times to pull away less badly injured passengers, before officials ordered him to move to a safer place. The jet was unbalanced, moving "very fast" and appeared to be accelerating towards the end of the runway, he said.
Wearing his Garuda uniform, gold epaulets and winged pilot badge, Captain Komar sat beside his lawyers and aggressively cross-examined the rice farmer. Captain Komar said Mr Sarwandi lived too close to the airport: "Do you know that the location is actually prohibited for living?"
Mr Sarwandi replied he had permission from the airport authority, before one of Captain Komar's lawyers berated him about minor differences in his testimony and police statement - taken over a year ago.
A passenger, and professor of criminology at University of Indonesia, Adrianus Meliala, was given more respectful treatment. The plane was speeding and bouncing around on approach, but there was no warning of an emergency landing, he told the court. "The plane hit the runway but then it went up again. So I thought it wanted to fly again but then it went down again. It happened three times, but the third was the hardest. I was pushed to the front until my face hit the back side of the front seat and it broke my nose.
"People were in panic, they started running here and there," Professor Meliala said. "Some people were stepped on. I saw a queue at the left door but almost nobody at the right door.
"When I was in front of the right door I understood why nobody wanted to go from there, it was on fire. But then I decided to jump on the burning wing to slide down to the paddy field because the field has water."
The paddy water doused the flames, but Professor Meliala sustained second-degree burns to 70 per cent of his body.
Outside the plane several Garuda crew stood or sat. None offered assistance, he said. When the fire brigade arrived, it could not cross a fence line and its water spray failed to reach the burning plane, Professor Meliala said.
The hearing into the crash, which killed 21 people including five Australians, continues next week. Key witnesses, including the co-pilot who told Captain Komar to abort the landing, will appear later this month.
Captain Komar faces a potential life sentence for deliberately crashing the plane, or a shorter jail term if found guilty of negligent manslaughter. Pilot groups are opposing the case, claiming it is the first time a commercial pilot has faced criminal charges.
Air-safety investigators found the plane landed at nearly twice the safe speed, despite at least 15 cockpit alarms warning the pilot to pull up.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Pilot denies deliberately crashing
SMH, August 11, 2008
An Indonesian pilot pleaded not guilty today to deliberately crashing a passenger jet last year, killing 21 people including five Australians.
"It is impossible that with experience of 22 years as a pilot I would deliberately crash the plane," Marwoto Komar told a district court in Yogyakarta, Central Java.
"I didn't have any intention to carelessly do things to harm the passengers," he said, wearing his pilot's uniform.
With his voice trembling, he added: "God please allow me to fly again."
A government probe found Komar ignored 15 automated cockpit warnings not to land as he brought the plane in at roughly twice the safe speed, causing the jet to bounce and burst into flames in ricefields.
The four Australian government officials and journalist killed were following a visit by then Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, who was on a separate plane.
Prosecutors last month charged Komar with three counts of negligence and one count of "deliberately" destroying or damaging an aircraft causing death, charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Komar has had his pilot's licence suspended. He was sacked by Garuda in February.
Indonesia, which relies heavily on air links across the archipelago, has one of Asia's worst air safety records.
An Indonesian pilot pleaded not guilty today to deliberately crashing a passenger jet last year, killing 21 people including five Australians.
"It is impossible that with experience of 22 years as a pilot I would deliberately crash the plane," Marwoto Komar told a district court in Yogyakarta, Central Java.
"I didn't have any intention to carelessly do things to harm the passengers," he said, wearing his pilot's uniform.
With his voice trembling, he added: "God please allow me to fly again."
A government probe found Komar ignored 15 automated cockpit warnings not to land as he brought the plane in at roughly twice the safe speed, causing the jet to bounce and burst into flames in ricefields.
The four Australian government officials and journalist killed were following a visit by then Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, who was on a separate plane.
Prosecutors last month charged Komar with three counts of negligence and one count of "deliberately" destroying or damaging an aircraft causing death, charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Komar has had his pilot's licence suspended. He was sacked by Garuda in February.
Indonesia, which relies heavily on air links across the archipelago, has one of Asia's worst air safety records.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Yogyakarta crash pilot dreams of flying again
Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent in Denpasar
SMH July 25, 2008
A PILOT who failed to follow landing procedures and ignored his co-pilot's plea to abort, with their Boeing 737 "running wild", wants to fly again despite facing criminal negligence charges over the deaths of 21 people.
Marwoto Komar appeared in his full Garuda pilot's uniform at Sleman District Court yesterday, although he was sacked and his pilot's licence suspended after the crash in Yogyakarta in March 2007.
Telling reporters he felt a "deep mourning" for the families of the victims - who included five Australians - Komar said he wore the uniform because "I am a pilot". Asked if he hoped to fly again, he replied: "Of course, that is my life."
Prosecutors charged Komar with three counts of negligence and one of deliberately destroying or damaging an aircraft causing death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Komar refused to comment on the accident, in which the jet touched down at nearly double the safe speed, crashed through the airport's fence and caught fire.
The prosecutor Mudim Aristo told a five-judge panel that Komar had ignored the landing calculations of his co-pilot, Gagam Rahman, then ignored repeated automated warnings to abort. "He deliberately force-landed the plane by diving down in a steep manner until the ground proximity warning system gave off a signal 'sink rate, whoop, whoop, pull up'," Mr Aristo said.
Komar had ignored a further 14 warnings and brought the plane into the sharp dive before overshooting the runway, he said.
■ AAP reports that the European Union has continued its ban on all Indonesian airlines flying into its air space because of safety concerns.
with Karuni Rompies
SMH July 25, 2008
A PILOT who failed to follow landing procedures and ignored his co-pilot's plea to abort, with their Boeing 737 "running wild", wants to fly again despite facing criminal negligence charges over the deaths of 21 people.
Marwoto Komar appeared in his full Garuda pilot's uniform at Sleman District Court yesterday, although he was sacked and his pilot's licence suspended after the crash in Yogyakarta in March 2007.
Telling reporters he felt a "deep mourning" for the families of the victims - who included five Australians - Komar said he wore the uniform because "I am a pilot". Asked if he hoped to fly again, he replied: "Of course, that is my life."
Prosecutors charged Komar with three counts of negligence and one of deliberately destroying or damaging an aircraft causing death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Komar refused to comment on the accident, in which the jet touched down at nearly double the safe speed, crashed through the airport's fence and caught fire.
The prosecutor Mudim Aristo told a five-judge panel that Komar had ignored the landing calculations of his co-pilot, Gagam Rahman, then ignored repeated automated warnings to abort. "He deliberately force-landed the plane by diving down in a steep manner until the ground proximity warning system gave off a signal 'sink rate, whoop, whoop, pull up'," Mr Aristo said.
Komar had ignored a further 14 warnings and brought the plane into the sharp dive before overshooting the runway, he said.
■ AAP reports that the European Union has continued its ban on all Indonesian airlines flying into its air space because of safety concerns.
with Karuni Rompies
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Garuda pilot charged with causing crash
The Age July 24 2008
A Garuda pilot has been formally charged with deliberately causing a passenger plane to crash in Indonesia, killing 21 people including five Australians.
Captain Marwoto Komar, 46, was charged on Thursday at the opening of his trial at Yogyakarta in central Java, where the 21 victims lost their lives on March 7 last year.
Komar fronted the Slemen District Court in his pilot's uniform, despite resigning from Garuda after the airline gave him an ultimatum following the crash.
A copy of an indictment to be read to the court on Thursday says Komar ignored 15 alarms to abort the landing of the Boeing 737 at Yogyakarta's Adi Sucipto Airport.
It says co-pilot Gagam Samam Rohmana had calculated the plane should land at a speed of 140 knots, but when the aircraft hit the runway it was going at 240 knots.
Komar also ignored the pleas of Rohmana not to proceed with the landing, it says.
"The defendant deliberately forced the landing by putting the nose of the Garuda Boeing 737 ... steeply down, so that the ground proximity warning system gave the signal 'whoop whoop, pull up'," the indictment says.
"The (co-pilot) looked or stared to the left at the defendant but the defendant didn't try to lift up the plane or cancel the landing, or go around.
"The defendant didn't try to pull the control column or the plane's steering mechanism ... the defendant only wanted to reach the runway by making the plane dive extremely."
The ground proximity warning system sounded 15 times as the plane came in "but the defendant was still ignoring it", it says.
"When the defendant landed ... the plane speed was still 221 knots."
The plane bounced along the runway three times, snapping its front wheel.
It then careered off the end of the runway, across a street and hit a wall before erupting in flames, the indictment says.
Among the 21 killed were Australian diplomat Liz O'Neill, AusAID official Allison Sudradjat, Australian Federal Police Officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott, and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish.
The five were travelling to Yogyakarta for an official visit by then foreign minister Alexander Downer.
Some 31 other passengers were injured.
Komar faces three alternative sets of charges.
The most serious is that he deliberately and unlawfully caused an accident or destroyed a plane causing death. If convicted he face life in jail.
He is believed to be the first pilot to face criminal charges over a plane crash in Indonesia, which has a poor safety history.
As he arrived at court on Thursday, Komar said he was ready to face trial.
"I'm ready. I thank God I'm healthy," he said.
His lawyer Mohammad Assegaf said Komar had already paid a heavy price for the crash, including the loss of his pilot's licence and job.
"As a man who lost his job and had his licence frozen, for a pilot that is already the same as being killed," he told journalists.
"Freezing his licence - it's already a very harsh punishment for a pilot."
Garuda is helping fund Komar's defence, Assegaf said.
Five judges will hear the case, which is expected to run for several months.
A Garuda pilot has been formally charged with deliberately causing a passenger plane to crash in Indonesia, killing 21 people including five Australians.
Captain Marwoto Komar, 46, was charged on Thursday at the opening of his trial at Yogyakarta in central Java, where the 21 victims lost their lives on March 7 last year.
Komar fronted the Slemen District Court in his pilot's uniform, despite resigning from Garuda after the airline gave him an ultimatum following the crash.
A copy of an indictment to be read to the court on Thursday says Komar ignored 15 alarms to abort the landing of the Boeing 737 at Yogyakarta's Adi Sucipto Airport.
It says co-pilot Gagam Samam Rohmana had calculated the plane should land at a speed of 140 knots, but when the aircraft hit the runway it was going at 240 knots.
Komar also ignored the pleas of Rohmana not to proceed with the landing, it says.
"The defendant deliberately forced the landing by putting the nose of the Garuda Boeing 737 ... steeply down, so that the ground proximity warning system gave the signal 'whoop whoop, pull up'," the indictment says.
"The (co-pilot) looked or stared to the left at the defendant but the defendant didn't try to lift up the plane or cancel the landing, or go around.
"The defendant didn't try to pull the control column or the plane's steering mechanism ... the defendant only wanted to reach the runway by making the plane dive extremely."
The ground proximity warning system sounded 15 times as the plane came in "but the defendant was still ignoring it", it says.
"When the defendant landed ... the plane speed was still 221 knots."
The plane bounced along the runway three times, snapping its front wheel.
It then careered off the end of the runway, across a street and hit a wall before erupting in flames, the indictment says.
Among the 21 killed were Australian diplomat Liz O'Neill, AusAID official Allison Sudradjat, Australian Federal Police Officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott, and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish.
The five were travelling to Yogyakarta for an official visit by then foreign minister Alexander Downer.
Some 31 other passengers were injured.
Komar faces three alternative sets of charges.
The most serious is that he deliberately and unlawfully caused an accident or destroyed a plane causing death. If convicted he face life in jail.
He is believed to be the first pilot to face criminal charges over a plane crash in Indonesia, which has a poor safety history.
As he arrived at court on Thursday, Komar said he was ready to face trial.
"I'm ready. I thank God I'm healthy," he said.
His lawyer Mohammad Assegaf said Komar had already paid a heavy price for the crash, including the loss of his pilot's licence and job.
"As a man who lost his job and had his licence frozen, for a pilot that is already the same as being killed," he told journalists.
"Freezing his licence - it's already a very harsh punishment for a pilot."
Garuda is helping fund Komar's defence, Assegaf said.
Five judges will hear the case, which is expected to run for several months.
Garuda pilot 'deliberately crashed plane'
By Stephen Fitzpatrick in Jakarta
Courier Mail July 24, 2008
PROSECUTORS will argue today that Garuda pilot Marwoto Komar deliberately crashed the Boeing 737-400 that ended up in a fireball off the runway at Yogyakarta, central Java, last year, killing 21 people, including five Australians.
A National Transportation Safety Committee report handed down late last year found that Captain Marwoto had failed to correct a "hot" landing profile during the final several kilometres of his approach to the airport on a routine Jakarta-Yogyakarta dawn commuter run.By the time he attempted to put the passenger jet on the runway, Captain Marwoto, 46, had ignored 15 automated audible cockpit warnings and several increasingly frantic pleas from his co-pilot, and was travelling at roughly twice the correct speed for landing, The Australian reports.
Fairfax journalist Morgan Mellish, Australian diplomats Liz O'Neill and Allison Sudradjat and Australian Federal Police officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott died in the crash.
They, as well as many of the Indonesians aboard the aircraft, were travelling to Yogyakarta for a visit by then foreign minister Alexander Downer.
Among the dignitaries Mr Downer was to meet in the historic city that day was prominent Muslim leader Din Samsyuddin - who survived the crash, having been able to scramble from the aircraft's wreckage before it burst into flames. Should prosecutors fail to prove Captain Marwoto deliberately crashed the jet, they will press lesser charges of negligently causing death, carrying a maximum sentence of seven years.
Courier Mail July 24, 2008
PROSECUTORS will argue today that Garuda pilot Marwoto Komar deliberately crashed the Boeing 737-400 that ended up in a fireball off the runway at Yogyakarta, central Java, last year, killing 21 people, including five Australians.
A National Transportation Safety Committee report handed down late last year found that Captain Marwoto had failed to correct a "hot" landing profile during the final several kilometres of his approach to the airport on a routine Jakarta-Yogyakarta dawn commuter run.By the time he attempted to put the passenger jet on the runway, Captain Marwoto, 46, had ignored 15 automated audible cockpit warnings and several increasingly frantic pleas from his co-pilot, and was travelling at roughly twice the correct speed for landing, The Australian reports.
Fairfax journalist Morgan Mellish, Australian diplomats Liz O'Neill and Allison Sudradjat and Australian Federal Police officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott died in the crash.
They, as well as many of the Indonesians aboard the aircraft, were travelling to Yogyakarta for a visit by then foreign minister Alexander Downer.
Among the dignitaries Mr Downer was to meet in the historic city that day was prominent Muslim leader Din Samsyuddin - who survived the crash, having been able to scramble from the aircraft's wreckage before it burst into flames. Should prosecutors fail to prove Captain Marwoto deliberately crashed the jet, they will press lesser charges of negligently causing death, carrying a maximum sentence of seven years.
Garuda pilot trial to begin amid controversy
ABC News
By Indonesia correspondent Geoff Thompson
The criminal trial of the pilot who crashed a Garuda plane in Yogyakarta last year begins today, despite criticism from the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations.
On March 7 last year Garuda Flight 200 crashed and burned at Yogyakarta Airport, killing 21 people, including five Australians.
An Indonesian police investigation led to a trial beginning today in which pilot Marwoto Komar is accused of causing the death by deliberately destroying a plane.
If found guilty of this charge he could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Pilots Association executive vice-president and Qantas pilot, Captain Richard Woodward, says the reasons why Marwoto Komar ignored 15 automated warnings to land at almost twice the normal speed have not yet been established.
"There's obviously something wrong there and in our view no one has determined why that's the case," he said.
Other charges allege the pilot caused death through criminal negligence.
By Indonesia correspondent Geoff Thompson
The criminal trial of the pilot who crashed a Garuda plane in Yogyakarta last year begins today, despite criticism from the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations.
On March 7 last year Garuda Flight 200 crashed and burned at Yogyakarta Airport, killing 21 people, including five Australians.
An Indonesian police investigation led to a trial beginning today in which pilot Marwoto Komar is accused of causing the death by deliberately destroying a plane.
If found guilty of this charge he could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Pilots Association executive vice-president and Qantas pilot, Captain Richard Woodward, says the reasons why Marwoto Komar ignored 15 automated warnings to land at almost twice the normal speed have not yet been established.
"There's obviously something wrong there and in our view no one has determined why that's the case," he said.
Other charges allege the pilot caused death through criminal negligence.
Garuda pilot tells of wild death ride
Mark Forbes in Denpasar
SMH, July 24, 2008
EXCLUSIVE
A GARUDA jet continued its ill-fated landing despite "running wild" and becoming uncontrollable early in its approach to Yogyakarta Airport's in March last year, its captain, Marwoto Komar, confessed under police interrogation.
Komar's trial for criminal negligence over the deaths of 21 people in the crash, including five Australians, begins today. He has never spoken publicly about the Boeing 737's descent, but his police interrogation report, which is central to the case, has been obtained by Herald.
Under questioning, Komar said there had been arguments with his co-pilot during the landing. He admitted the plane touched down at an unsafe speed.
He said he was concerned about conserving fuel - one of the possible reasons advanced as to why 15 automated alarms telling the pilot to "go-around", were ignored.
Asked by police why he did not land visually after experiencing problems with an instrument landing, Komar said he did not tell his co-pilot he was continuing to use the instrument landing system "because at that time I was the only one in control of the plane that was already running wild".
"The plane nose was always going down and it was difficult for me to bring the plane nose up ... [one of] the reasons for that was the malfunction of the plane's stabiliser which is located at the tail of the plane. However, I could not be sure of the reason," he said.
"So it can be said that the plane's performance ... was not stable," Komar said.
He described unsuccessful attempts to bring under control a plane that was descending too quickly. He admitted he never achieved a safe speed.
"It was impossible for me to go around because it was difficult to lift up the plane's nose, so my last attempt was trying to put the plane on a glide path, reasoning the plane would not touch the soil that was ahead of the runway. In other words my only hope was to reach for the runway."
On landing, the plane was travelling at 150 knots (270kmh), he said. "I do know the possibility of the risks but at least at that time I thought that my attempts carried the least risk."
Police have called for Komar to be jailed for life for the crash. His is the first criminal prosecution of an Indonesian pilot.
Air safety investigators determined the plane landed at nearly double the safe speed, bouncing off the runway, through the airport fence and across an embankment. Its wing was severed and the plane caught alight with many passengers trapped inside.
The airport's safety run-off did not meet international safety standards and its fire-fighting equipment and practices were heavily criticised by investigators.
Komar said he compromised with his co-pilot, Gagam Rahman, on the level of flaps the plane was using on descent because "by using a flap of 30 degrees the usage of fuel was relatively not much". Garuda had introduced large bonuses for conserving fuel shortly before last year's accident.
Komar faces charges of negligence causing injury and death and flying an aircraft which endangered the safety of people on the plane
SMH, July 24, 2008
EXCLUSIVE
A GARUDA jet continued its ill-fated landing despite "running wild" and becoming uncontrollable early in its approach to Yogyakarta Airport's in March last year, its captain, Marwoto Komar, confessed under police interrogation.
Komar's trial for criminal negligence over the deaths of 21 people in the crash, including five Australians, begins today. He has never spoken publicly about the Boeing 737's descent, but his police interrogation report, which is central to the case, has been obtained by Herald.
Under questioning, Komar said there had been arguments with his co-pilot during the landing. He admitted the plane touched down at an unsafe speed.
He said he was concerned about conserving fuel - one of the possible reasons advanced as to why 15 automated alarms telling the pilot to "go-around", were ignored.
Asked by police why he did not land visually after experiencing problems with an instrument landing, Komar said he did not tell his co-pilot he was continuing to use the instrument landing system "because at that time I was the only one in control of the plane that was already running wild".
"The plane nose was always going down and it was difficult for me to bring the plane nose up ... [one of] the reasons for that was the malfunction of the plane's stabiliser which is located at the tail of the plane. However, I could not be sure of the reason," he said.
"So it can be said that the plane's performance ... was not stable," Komar said.
He described unsuccessful attempts to bring under control a plane that was descending too quickly. He admitted he never achieved a safe speed.
"It was impossible for me to go around because it was difficult to lift up the plane's nose, so my last attempt was trying to put the plane on a glide path, reasoning the plane would not touch the soil that was ahead of the runway. In other words my only hope was to reach for the runway."
On landing, the plane was travelling at 150 knots (270kmh), he said. "I do know the possibility of the risks but at least at that time I thought that my attempts carried the least risk."
Police have called for Komar to be jailed for life for the crash. His is the first criminal prosecution of an Indonesian pilot.
Air safety investigators determined the plane landed at nearly double the safe speed, bouncing off the runway, through the airport fence and across an embankment. Its wing was severed and the plane caught alight with many passengers trapped inside.
The airport's safety run-off did not meet international safety standards and its fire-fighting equipment and practices were heavily criticised by investigators.
Komar said he compromised with his co-pilot, Gagam Rahman, on the level of flaps the plane was using on descent because "by using a flap of 30 degrees the usage of fuel was relatively not much". Garuda had introduced large bonuses for conserving fuel shortly before last year's accident.
Komar faces charges of negligence causing injury and death and flying an aircraft which endangered the safety of people on the plane
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