18 July 2001 (The Straits Times)
SILKAIR CRASH LAWSUIT
Ex-captain disturbed over pilot's behaviour
Former captain said he could not take Capt Tsu's abuse of the aircraft and voiced concern just days before crash
By Alethea Lim and Tan Ooi Boon
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
A FORMER SilkAir captain had apparently voiced concerns over the unsafe behaviour of MI 185 pilot Tsu Way Ming just days before the crash and wanted its management to hold a meeting to discuss this.
But that meeting never took place because days later, on Dec 19, 1997, Flight MI 185 went down in Palembang.
Yesterday, Senior Counsel Michael Khoo, the lawyer for victims' families who are suing SilkAir, told the court that Captain Mohan Raganathan was the pilot who complained.
He said in December 1997, Capt Raganathan had decided that he would not want to renew his contract as he could 'handle any emergency but would not tolerate any abuse of aircraft by Capt Tsu'.
Mr Khoo said Capt Raganathan was disturbed that Capt Tsu had proceeded to take off to Kunming, in China, on Nov 20, 1997 although one of plane's twin engines did not have sufficient power. While the plane took off safely, Capt Tsu decided to return to Changi Airport 20 minutes later for checks.
The lawyer noted that Capt Raganathan later complained to SilkAir's then flight operations manager, Captain Leslie Ganapathy.
But yesterday, Capt Ganapathy said he did not recall receiving such a complaint from Capt Raganathan.
He said the management had agreed to meet some of the pilots, but the meeting was meant to discuss routine operational matters, and not Capt Tsu.
As one of Capt Tsu's supervisory managers, he earlier told the court that his relationship with Capt Tsu had often been good, even after the management demoted Capt Tsu in August 1997 for failing to report an incident and for stopping a cockpit voice recorder.
He said about eight days before the crash, Capt Tsu came to see him about the flight to Kunming, and told him that while he forgot to report the incident, he went beyond his duties to help transfer passengers to other flights and help ground staff check the plane.
Capt Ganapathy said: 'I remember agreeing with Capt Tsu that he had done good work and told him that if he put this down in writing...I would certainly write to him to thank him for his good work.'
The trial continues today.
Capt Tsu broke rules thrice in 8 months
THE lawyer for the families suing SilkAir said yesterday that the airline's flight management could have taken more severe action against Captain Tsu Way Ming when he committed his third flight-safety breach, just four months after he was rapped and demoted for two earlier ones.
Senior Counsel Michael Khoo added that instead of disciplining him, the management merely reminded him to be more careful.
Mr Khoo, who is representing families of six people who died in the MI 185 crash, was referring to an incident on Nov 20, 1997 when Capt Tsu did not get enough thrust in one of the plane's engines while taking off from Singapore to Kunming, China. The plane had to return to Singapore.
It landed smoothly but was found to be overloaded. Capt Tsu did not make a report of this overweight landing as required.
His supervisor, Captain Anthony Leong, then sent him a letter the day after the incident, reminding him to be 'more mindful' and follow the requirements in future.
Eight months earlier, in March 1997, Capt Tsu had to make a turn-around when he failed to land his plane in Manado, Indonesia. He later landed safely but did not report the incident as mandated.
Three months later, Capt Tsu had deliberately stopped the cockpit voice recorder by pulling its circuit breaker just before the flight left Singapore because he wanted to download its content. It has a 30-minute taping time and re-records continuously.
In July 1997, he was reprimanded for his 'poor judgment' and removed as line instructor pilot.
When cross-examining Capt Leong, Mr Khoo said that Capt Tsu should have been more severely dealt with after his third breach, given his past record.
Disagreeing, Capt Leong emphasised that the November 1997 incident was an administrative oversight on Capt Tsu's part and not a breach in safety procedure.
'We did not think of it as a serious breach,' he added.
SILKAIR CRASH
18 July 2001 (The Business Times)
Court hears SilkAir pilot had good flying record
By
Beth Jinks
THE disciplinary record and judgement of late SilkAir pilot Captain Tsu Way Ming came under scrutiny again in the Singapore High Court yesterday as his superiors gave evidence in a civil hearing into the Singapore Airlines subsidiary's 1997 crash.
SilkAir vice-president Captain Leslie Ganapathy testified that Capt Tsu had a good flying record except for the time when he disconnected a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) during another flight.
Capt Ganapathy said while it was a serious breach of discipline in turning off a CVR, Capt Tsu had made up for his mistake by reconnecting the recorder and continuing the flight.
His testimony followed that of SilkAir deputy chief pilot Captain Anthony Leong, who also continued to defend his pilot yesterday. Michael Khoo, the lawyer acting on behalf of the families of six of the 104 people killed when flight MI 185 nosedived into a Sumatran river, claimed the pilot had made serious mistakes, overlooked report guidelines and exercised poor judgement on several occasions before the fatal crash.
But Capt Leong insisted that despite scaring his co-pilots, Capt Tsu's earlier decisions to switch off the CVR to preserve a conversation, allegedly flying 'severe' S-turns to correct a badly approached landing and making an overweight landing after deciding to take off with engine thrust problems were at most errors in judgement, rather than instances of recklessness.
The incidents prompted an internal investigation and led to Capt Tsu's demotion earlier in 1997. When questioned about Capt Tsu's failure to report an incident after having been counselled over past complaints, Capt Leong said: 'His interpretation (of when reports were needed) was incorrect, but you can't take a person to task like that... in our view it was not that serious.'
Capt Leong told the court both he and Capt Ganapathy had counselled Capt Tsu to 'put the incident behind him' and told him 'this is not the end of your career path' when the pilot was demoted. The hearing continues today.
