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Indonesia blasted for foot-dragging in New Year's Day jetliner crash probe

International Herald Tribune

The Associated Press
March 15, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia: Months after an Indonesian jet crashed into the sea, killing all 102 on board, its wreckage and in-flight recorders lie on the seabed while the airline looks for a sea-salvage company that will guarantee recovery — a delay that experts say could jeopardize global air safety.

Signals from the plane's black boxes were traced to depths of more than 1,700 meters (about a mile) before dying out several weeks ago, recoverable with the use of sophisticated — and expensive — submarine technology.

With strong currents in the Makassar Strait likely moving sediment over the recorders and wreckage, however, time is of the essence.

"I find it impossible to believe that we can have, in the 21st century, an aviation accident with a modern aircraft and no successful attempt to get the recorder," said Jim Hall, former chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. He added that it was important to learn if the Boeing 737 — the world's most popular airplane — had structural problems.

Indonesia has recently seen a string of plane crashes, putting a glaring spotlight on safety. Last week, a Boeing 737 careered off a runway, bursting into flames and killing 21 people. The month before, a jetliner's fuselage split in half following a hard landing, sending carryon luggage flying through the cabin but causing no injuries.

The government responded by naming a new civil aviation chief, Budi Mulyawan Suyitno, who acknowledged Thursday that some airlines appear to be cutting corners by leasing cheap, old planes that are not necessarily air-worthy.

The Adam Air plane plunged from the sky on New Year's Day, halfway through what was supposed to be a two-hour hop between islands. It changed course at least twice after battling 130 kph (80 mph) winds, and while the pilot did not issue a mayday or report technical difficulties, he took the unusual step of asking air traffic control to confirm his location at least once, investigators said.

It will be almost impossible to determine what caused the plane to dive into the sea from 10,000 meters (35,000 feet) until the black boxes are recovered — something that sea salvage companies said would cost millions of dollars (euro).

Frans Wenas, head of the Transport Ministry's safety committee, said it was Adam Air's responsibility.

The budget airline said an agreement with U.S-based Phoenix International fell through after the company refused to guarantee a successful recovery. Negotiations with another firm are under way, said Capt. Hartono, Adam Air's director of safety, adding that it could take weeks.

Some experts said the crash highlighted the need to fit commercial aircraft with an extra set of deployable recorders — devices fitted on the jetliner's tail that eject on impact and float on water.

They contain a backup emergency locator beacon and additional cockpit voice and flight data recorders, making it possible to find a downed aircraft after a crash.

"We would have a lot of the answers that may now be buried at the bottom of the ocean," said Hall, noting that deployables would be especially useful in Indonesia, a sprawling country made up of 17,000 islands and the frequent target of terrorist attacks.

There are two distinct debris fields on the ocean bed, each about 1 1/2 kilometers (a mile) apart, but crash investigators say small pieces of wreckage recovered so far indicate a midair explosion was not the likely cause.

They are reportedly looking into possible rudder control problems, like those that plagued a handful of Boeing 737s in the '90s, when rudders suddenly activated midair and would not respond to commands by pilots to rectify them, sending the planes into a downward spiral.

The rudder mechanisms since have been redesigned and all older aircraft are supposed to have been retrofitted.

It was not immediately clear if the 18-year-old Adam Air plane, which changed owners five times, was among them.

"I couldn't tell you that," said Jim Proulx a spokesman for the Chicago-based airplane manufacturer. "It's part and parcel to an accident investigation and I'm going to have to decline."

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Associated Press reporters Niniek Karmini in Jakarta and Curtis Woodward in Seattle contributed to this report.