A couple of things...
Training wheels: Terima kasih untuk terjemahan anda yang cepat dan akurat!
PJ2: I talked to one of the senior people at KNKT (NTSC in English) today and they are NOT abandoning the search for the DFDR.
Retired F4: In two posts within a short time you strongly opine that weather was not a contributing factor. Though I have re-read the posts several times I cannot follow your logic. Please try again to convince me that Wx could not be a factor (whether the aircraft was IFR / IMC; IFR / VMC; or even VFR. I can cite many accidents / incidents worldwide wherein Wx was a contributing factor in all of the above combinations of flight conditions.
General statement: I have spent more hours in the air over Indonesia than I care to remember (including the area of this accident). I was in that area twice in the week before this occurrence; once in the morning and once at about 3pm. The flight conditions (visibility, turbulence, rain, towering CU or CB, etc.) were very similar on those days -- as they often are -- with the afternoon conditions developing as if viewed on a video on "fast forward". The visibility even in the early part of the day in question (May 9) was reduced in haze (combination of smog and smoke from burning) such that the reported prevailing vis was an "optimistic" estimate. Anyone who flies regularly within 60km of Jakarta will tell you that there are few days when the visibility is greater than 5 - 6 km. And the days leading up to this accident were no different. The lovely skies and excellent visibility of some of the stock photos of the area are not representative of what it is usually like -- and was like on May 9.
To suggest that Wx is somehow to be ruled out as a contributing factor at this stage in this instance shows little understanding of local geography and meteorology, human factors, and even accident investigation principles.
Last edited by Sam Asama; 22nd May 2012 at 02:22.