Pilot charged over crash

[bogman]

I found this while i was browseing.I tried to add attachment from the BBC to no avail.

A pilot of a flight that crashed in Indonesia on 07 March last year was charged today of 5 offences including negligence causing deaths of 21 people and destruction of the aircraft and could faceup to five years in jail.

He dismissed 15 warning alarms and from the co-pilot to abort the attempt.He came in too high and too fast bounced off the runway and crashed into a rice field,and the burst into flames.

Pilots from the airline which was Garuda national airline went out in protest today.


Sorry I could not get the attachment up maybe someone else can be more sucessful,it is in the Asia Pacific section of the BBC news.

[chefnoel]

Here is the link:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7228122.stm

[Panop]

See also: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/arrest-of-garuda-pilot-alarms-his-colleagues/2008/02/05/1202090419781.html
and http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/indonesian-police-insist-garuda-crash-pilot-will-face-criminalcourt/2008/02/05/1202090418884.html

On the face of it (and I am not attempting to pre-judge the investigation and court case) it would appear likely to be a classic case of the co-pilot not being prepared to intervene even when he was aware of the imminent dangerous situation being caused by the actions of the captain.  There have been numerous accidents caused by this iissue over the years which is why most airlines now emphasise the 'team work' aspect of flight management and encourage appropriate input from the non-flying pilot.

Garuda is banned from flying to a number of countries include those in the European Union.  They have, apparently, passed safety audits from a number of countries iincluding Australia who consider the airline to be safe.  See http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080121-0404-indonesia-eu-aviation.html

[Panop]

The pilot has just been released from custody whilst investigations continue.

See http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/15/2164386.htm

This case does open up some interesting questions about the legal situation of pilots (and I guess controllers) in the case of alleged recklessness or negligence in different jurisdictions.

[bogman]

Here is an update of the pilot.

http://

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7985041.stm