Adam Air B737-400 fatal crash January 2007
 

Adam Air 737 missing in Indonesia http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/6222629.stm

Not a good start to the new year I'm afraid.

Interesting wikipedia link relating to the state of the airline industry in the area.
http://bialoglowy.********.com/2006/...indonesia.html

Not looking good
....this from REUTERS
JAKARTA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Contact was lost on Monday with an Adam Air passenger plane flying from Surabaya on Java island to Manado on Sulawesi with 96 passengers and six crew on board, a transport ministry official told Elshinta news radio.
Tatang Ikhsan, director general of air transport at the ministry, said the plane was a Boeing 737-400 and the flight originated in Jakarta with a stop in Surabaya.
It left Surabaya at 1 p.m. (0600 GMT) and was scheduled to land just over two hours later in Manado in North Sulawesi.
Contact was lost when the plane was at an altitude of 35,000 feet, about one hour before it was due to land, Ikhsan said.
This from Associated Press:
Associated Press
January 1, 2007
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A commercial Adam Air passenger plane with more than 100 people onboard lost contact with flight controllers Monday on flight between Indonesia's Java and Sulawesi islands, officials said.
Adam Air flight KI-574 was still missing more than five hours after the scheduled arrival time.
A senior Transport Ministry official, Ichsan Tatang, said aviation authorities were gathering information from other flights which "might have picked up the plane's distress signal."
Adam Air's chief executive, Gunawan Suherman, confirmed to The Associated Press that controllers had lost contact with Adam Air flight KI-574.
The plane left Surabaya in East Java at 1 p.m. local time on a two-hour flight to Manado on the northern tip of Sulawesi island, Tatang said.
An Indonesian air traffic controller told Metro TV the plane hit "very bad" weather and may have run out of fuel because, if still airborne, it would be "over its (fuel) limit."
"This is an emergency," Bhabr, who like many Indonesians uses one name, told the broadcaster.
The missing plane is a Boeing 737-400, carrying six crew and 96 passengers, including 11 children, Indonesia's El-Shinta radio reported.
It's last contact with flight controllers was at 2:07 p.m. near southern Sulawesi, Tatang said, adding that it only had enough fuel for a four-hour flight.
Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa confirmed the plane had lost contact, but could provide no more details.
Adam Air, a privately owned low-cost airline, began operations in Indonesia several years ago and most of its flights are domestic.
Last year, one of its jetliners lost all communication and navigation systems for four hours during a flight between the Indonesian capital Jakarta and Makassar on Sulawesi Island forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.
The transport minister said at the time he would investigate.

From Wikipedia
Adam Air was founded in 2002 by Mr Agung Laksono, a well-known Indonesian businessman and politician, and Mrs Sandra Ang.

The airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 19 December 2003 with 2 Boeing 737 aircraft leased from GE Capital Aviation Services. It is entirely owned by and named after Adam Adhitya Suherman, the Chief Executive of the company (?? inconsistency here with the statement that Adam Air was founded by Mr Agung Laksono and Mrs. Sandra Ang. Do they sell the shares to Adam Adhitya Suherman? or what?).

On 1 January 2007 one of the fleet's 737-400 aircraft, carrying 96 passengers and 6 crew. Flight KI-574 lost contact with air traffic control flying between the islands of Java and Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Rumored to be this aircraft, http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b737-24070.htm

History of the aircraft
Delivery Date Operator Registration Remark
26/01/1989 Dan-Air London G-BNNL lsd ILFC
07/11/1992 British Airways G-BNNL
19/03/1995 GB Airways G-BNNL lsd ILFC
06/04/2001 National Jets Italy G-BNNL
26/02/2002 WFBN N112TR
04/03/2002 Air One EI-CXH
11/12/2002 JAT YU-AOO ret to ILFC 10/2005
01/12/2005 AdamAir PK-KKW

Latest from Jakarta is that wreakage has now been found just outside Monado - 96 souls on board

sad news

Just reported by BBC that a distress call was received before contact lost, no further details relating to nature of distress call.

Very bad weather here over the last few days.

Looks like it hit a thunderstorm.

Looks like it was only a matter of time.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...hlight=adamair
Sad news indeed.

Just as well they are not flying 747's with cargo out of Africa via a UK ofice then:eek:

latest here

An Indonesia military airport official says a passenger plane missing for several hours probably crashed.
Rescue teams have been dispatched to look for the Adam Air flight with more than 100 people on board.
It sent out a distress signal in bad weather. The military airport chief in the region says the type of signal sent by the plane before it went missing indicated - in his words - "a big chance it had an accident or a crash."
Officials don't know if the plane went down in the sea, or on land. The Navy has been contacted about a possible sea rescue operation.
An Indonesian passenger plane carrying 102 people disappeared in stormy weather on Monday, and rescue teams were sent to search in the area where the aircraft sent out a distress signal.

Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said a radio communication was picked up over central Sulawesi, an major island in the Indonesian archipelago about 470 miles from the Adam Air flight's destination. He said emergency crews were on their way to search for survivors.

"Let's hope the plane had an emergency landing," he told El-Shinta radio.

Eddy Suyanto, military airport chief in South Sulawesi, said the distress signal indicated "a big chance it had an accident or a crash."

Air traffic lost contact with flight KI-574 while it was flying at 35,000 feet from Indonesia's main island of Java to Sulawesi. It was still missing more than six hours after its scheduled arrival.

The plane - on a two-hour flight from East Java to Manado, on Sulawesi's northern tip - carried six crew and 96 passengers, including 11 children, Indonesia's El-Shinta radio reported.

Weeks of seasonal rains and high winds in Indonesia have caused several deadly floods, landslides and maritime accidents, including the sinking of a ferry in the Java Sea on Friday that has left dozens dead and some 400 still missing. That accident was hundreds of miles from the area where the Adam Air plane disappeared.

An Indonesian air traffic controller told Metro TV the plane hit "very bad" weather and may have run out of fuel because, if still airborne, it would be "over its (fuel) limit."

"This is an emergency," Bhabr, who like many Indonesians uses one name, told the broadcaster.

Adam Air, a privately owned low-cost airline, began operations in Indonesia several years ago and most of its flights are domestic. Last year, one of its jetliners lost all communication and navigation systems for four hours during a flight between the Indonesian capital Jakarta and Makassar on Sulawesi Island, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

latest:
It has crashed... around Rantepao Area... mountaineous area. Or in the sea... Air Force will confirm tomorrow with a search. Location is about 1hr normal cruise time away from Manado.
96 pax, 6 crew.
The Handling of this accident is shocking...
Relatives in Manado were told flight was cancelled and gave no further details, so they went home.
Relatives in Surabaya went to the airport to check what they saw in the news, and they were told it was delayed, and went home.
Then, came the confirmation from the DGAC that it was missing.
Adam Air in Manado is silent, making the relatives angry... Adam Air Manado was refusing to release the names of the passengers.
Adam Air Surabaya is suspected of intimidating the relatives into silence. The press has been intimidated and prevented from getting any information.
Press conference in Jakarta was a total joke.
Looks like they'll blame the pilot and/or weather, regardless of what the truth is.
Upon news that the aircraft was missing, Adam Air closed all of its offices, leaving a few to handle the flights still not due in... except for Manado. Surabaya ticket office was closed quite early.
Busy afternoon thanks to this... and bad start for the year...
PK-KAR

Indonesian Aviation-Tragic
 

Getting to be a veritable blood-bath. Extreme criticism, but just take a look at the country's safety record...atrocious. Who is responsible? Indo regulatory authorities/IATA? There is clearly a big problem with standards there, and people are losing their lives.
Please can somebody with responsibility offer a response. I fly there frequently, and I can say with knowledge and conviction that, Garuda aside, the local carriers of this huge country are downright dangerous. Pick any, and review their record, and compare to other countries in the region.

IATA has no regulatory authority over aircraft operations. Perhaps you meant ICAO but even then the Licencing authority of the operating country usually has the last word (at least over operations within their country)

I fly to Manado occasionally and what you say is true. I caught a flight from Singapore to Manado back in 2001, flight MI274 ( Silkair ) and due to poor visibility we were not able to land, after the 4th or 5th failed approach the pilot decided to divert to Hassanudin, Makassar in South Sulawesi as we were running low on fuel.

Upon arriving we were given a choice to stay in Makassar for the night or board a 737/Mandala airlines and arrive in Manado the same night. The cockpit door was not closed and the Captain occasionally leant over his seat to talk to one of the female flight attendants standing in the isle, this went on for about 40 minutes in between taking off and landing. The most surprising thing was that the other passengers did not seem disturbed about it which seems to indicate that this happens frequently.

If the reports have been correct, the airline's behavior has been truely reprehensible. Run away, run away and hide seems to be their mission statement. Abandoning their responsibilites to the relatives is just inexcuseable. Some management should not be allowed to operate airlines, period. Especially in third world countries.

Reality
 

This is a tragic accident, and my sympathies go out to all the families of those involved. The reality of our current world is that there are places where standards are different...and these may be for a number of reasons, including the poverty within that country. We should all assess our own risks and make choices based upon that, for example if I choose to go to an Indonesian nightclub I do so knowing that it is unlikely the safety standards are up to those in the UK, and I would scope out the exits more carefully as a result. Of course many of those involved will not have been in the position to make that judgement, so what is the solution? I do not have an answer to that, however I do believe we must not make the mistake of forcing our own values on those of other countries. For example in Thailand many times you will see 4 or 5 people on one motorcycle, simply they have no option, of course such behaviour would not be accepted or tolerated in the UK or US. As for the Mandala Airlines Captain sounds like a non issue not all countries enforce the same draconian cockpit door regs and if it is not in the critical stages of flight why not talk to a Flight Attendant? Wasn't there a USAir crew some years ago who let a cabin crew member sit on their lap for landing? A bit of a ramble I know but in summary economic realities do apply to aviation and once again sympathies to the families concerned

When you consider it was just after the 911 attacks, you would at least hope that some door reg's would have been enforced. Besides that, it just doesn't look right to see a pilot slouching over the back of his seat so casually.

What do you expect him to be doing? Leaning forward tensely surveying the sky ahead?

Adamair have published a list of PAX on their website. They have also posted the GR given by Changri radar as last record of the flight - seems to be deep ocean.

Reuters now reporting sighting of the missing aircraft 'in the mountains of Sulawasi'.

Looks as if weather might indeed have been a factor. Check out the satellite image that's been put up on http://www.openatc.com

Cheers

Sad news. According to SMH the wreckage was found, there are no survivors and there are bodies everywhere.

RIP.

Latest from BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/6223825.stm

A very sad start to the New Year RIP all onboard and condolences to all families

Very sad indeed.

However according to Skynews there are some survivors.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Plane wreckage found


Search teams have found the wreckage of a Boeing 737 that went missing in wild weather over Indonesia.

An Indonesian official has told a local radio station at least 90 people have been killed, while the remaining 12 on board survived.

He said the plane was 'destroyed' and had crashed in a mountainous region in west Sulawesi province.

The plane was carrying 102 people, including 11 children, when it sent out two distress signals while flying from Surabaya on the island of Java to Manado on Sulawesi.

The Surabaya airport duty manager says there were no technical problems with the plane when it took off.

The area north of east Java is subject to violent storms, experiencing high winds since last weekend.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is trying to determine whether any Australians were onboard.

Adam Air
 

Anyone... Name of the crew please. I cant get a hold of a friend of mine on any number nor email and he flies the -200's lately from Surabaya.

JJFlyer -

I've PM'd you with that info.

R

List of Crew and Pax are published on their website: http://www.flyadamair.com/



A satellite image (01Jan07 0733UTC) can be found also here:
http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/mss/jpg/ai07.jpg


Very sad start indeed and my deepest condolences to all families

FC

Values
 

View from the Ground....what a feeble politically correct posting.

In the field of aviation, the highest safety values must be IMPOSED on all countries. International air travel covers almost all countries. We are not talking about motor scooters in Thailand. Or politics. THis is about professional standards, and their regulation.

Pprune.org is a professional pilot's forum. Not an open forum for folk with opinions but no expertise. Evacuate! Evacuate! Unfasten Your Seat Belt and Get Out!:=

Incidentally, IATA make much of their income from their well-respected safety audits and monitoring of most intenational carriers. They are an important and relevant body in the field of Air Safety. As indeed are ICAO.

Passengerlist can be found here, http://www.flyadamair.com/info/admin/fullnews.php?id=1
It´s claimed that 3 of the passengers where US citizens, the rest seem to be
Indonesian? Crews name can also be found on the homepage.
May the unfortunate ones rest in peace.....:{

Seems that 12 people survived the crash, inc.the pilot, which is not confirmed yet.

Australian TV news reporting that there are 12 survivors. A small percentage of total pax but good news that at least some survived.

Survivors? Wow, thats amazing.

I just hope that this isn't one of those cases where a passenger aircraft has continued to operate without important bits of kit - like serviceable weather radar. Weather around that part of the world can be sudden and vicious.

Reminds me of the time I was told to operate from Europe to Malaysia via Sri Lanka in a military transport jet. It didn't have an APU so I asked if it was possible to get a completely serviceable jet, even if it meant a delay. Alternative offererd had u/s weather radar. As it was monsoon season I opted for the original aircraft. The buffoons who allocate these things don't have a bloody clue ........... :ugh:

Mr B,

Lets wait for the facts.

Your attitude towards this sux.

Not too much fuel?

.. assuming the report of survivors is correct, one might hypothesize slow speed, minimal descent rate just prior to ground contact!
.
.. weather … engines .. ??
.
.. very sad start to 2007 :(

Times this morning has morphed the 737 into a 747-400. So much for the former "top people's paper".

mainwheel,

You missed the point I think! Yes, there is a lot of water to go under the bridge yet so it will be some time before we know, with any clarity, what happened.

How you surmise a problem with my attitude is interesting. All I said was what I hoped the accident WASN'T the result of. The rest is purely a personal illustration.

And it is 'sucks', by the way .......

SBS news tonight reported the aircraft had in fact not been found and previous reports were in error.