Aerobatics team grounded over jet fighter crash<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Following a series of accidents involving Indonesia's jet
\nfighters this year, Air Force Chief Marshall Chappy Hakim
\nannounced on Tuesday that all members of the Jupiter Blue
\nAerobatics Team would be grounded, pending examination into the
\nmental state of the pilots and the physical state of the
\naircraft.<\/p>\n
Chappy said a lack of experience and skill -- due to
\nrestricted flight training -- among the pilots was to blame for
\nthe crashes of three jet fighters this year.<\/p>\n
"All (Air Force) pilots have to maintain their skills by
\ndeveloping a training habit that will help them take safe action
\neven in crisis situations," he said.<\/p>\n
Following the U.S.-led embargo on the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI) in 1999, the Air Force has had to restrict the number of
\nflying hours to train its officers to 15 hours per month from the
\nstandard requirement of 60 hours per month.<\/p>\n
Two British-made Hawk MK-53 jet fighters crashed at Iswahyudi
\nAir Base in Madiun, East Java on March 28, when four Air Force
\npilots belonging to the Jupiter Blue Aerobatics Team were on
\ntraining flights.<\/p>\n
All pilots Capt. Andis Solikhin Machfud and Capt. Weko Nartono
\nSoewarno and their respective co-pilots Maj. Syahbudin Nur
\nHutasuhut and Capt. Masrial were killed in the accident.<\/p>\n
Chappy said the Air Force investigation team had looked into
\nthe airworthiness as well as the physical condition of the pilots
\nand their copilots, and the situation surrounding the incident,
\nincluding the weather at the time of the accident.<\/p>\n
"But the team found that none of these factors caused the
\naccident. We (the Air Force) concluded that our pilots were
\ninsufficiently trained because they had not done the required
\nflight exercises to maintain their skills," Chappy told a media
\nconference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Last June 6, an Air Force Hawk MK-209 stationed at Pekanbaru
\nAir Base crash-landed at Polonia Air Base in Medan, North
\nSumatra. The pilot of the ill-fated jet fighter survived the
\naccident.<\/p>\n
The accidents have brought the number of Indonesia's fleet of
\nHawk jet fighters down to just 40, all of them stationed at
\nPekanbaru Air Base and Supadio Air Base.<\/p>\n
Two of the country's F-16 Falcon jet fighters have also been
\nlost to crashes, one crash-landed in Lumajang, East Java, in 1991
\nand the other at Halim Perdanakusumah Air Base in 1997, reducing
\nthe number of fighters to just 10.<\/p>\n
The F-5 squadron consists of 11 planes stationed in Madiun.<\/p>\n
"I, as the Air Force chief, apologize for disappointing all
\nthose Indonesian people who have supported the Air Force. I hope
\nwe will be able to improve our professionalism, so that there
\nwill be no more accidents in the future," Chappy said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aerobatics-team-grounded-over-jet-fighter-crash-1447893297",
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