No One is perfect...not even for gods of Garuda
Ok not gods... but aleast Indonesian astronauts aleast.
Sidney Morning Herald (22nd Oct 2007)
The chief pilot of a plane that crashed in Indonesia, killing five Australians and 16 others, ignored 15 alarm bells as the plane came in to land too quickly, a report has found.
The Boeing 737 exploded into flames in a rice field after skidding off the end of the runway in Yogyakarta, Central Java, on March 7.
Investigators have scoured the plane's black box cockpit voice recorder and data log for clues to the disaster.
The final report stemming from the crash investigation found the pilot had landed, despite a flood of warnings.
"During the approach, the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) alerts and warnings sounded 15 times, and the co-pilot called for the pilot in command to go around," the report found.
"The aircraft was flown at an excessive air speed and steep flight path angle during the approach and landing, resulting in an unstabilised approach.
"The pilot in command did not follow company procedures that required him to fly a stabilised approach, and he did not abort the landing and go around when the approach was not stabilised.
"His attention was fixated or channelised on landing the aircraft on the runway and he either did not hear, or disregarded the GPWS alerts, and warnings, and calls from the co-pilot to go around."
The investigation also found the co-pilot did not follow company procedures and take control of the plane when he saw the pilot repeatedly ignore the alerts and warnings.
Garuda records also showed no evidence that the pilots had been trained to respond appropriately to the warnings.
The investigation also found Yogyakarta Airport's fire fighting service was unable to reach the accident site and some vehicles lacked necessary equipment.
"The delay in extinguishing the fire, and the lack of appropriate fire suppressant agents, may have significantly reduced survivability," the report said.
"The airport emergency plan and its implementation were less than effective."
National Transport Safety Committee chairman Tatang Kurniadi said the report was aimed a preventing further accidents, and was not to be used as the basis for any legal action over the March crash.
Kurniadi said the committee would not hand over any evidence gained from the plane's flight recorders, to help the police investigation.
Police are continuing to investigate the crash and have interviewed the pilots, who survived by scrambling out of the cockpit.
"I would like to go back to the objective of this, the report was made by NTSC for safety purposes only, not for blaming," he said.
"If any institution wants to ... follow up that accident, that's their own decision."
He said the committee's report could not be used for legal purposes.
"The report contained the results from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, but according to international regulations on aviation these black boxes are not allowed to be used for ... liability purposes," Kurniadi said.
"We will not give police or any institution [information] other than for safety purposes only - it's in international regulations and we want to follow those regulations."