Garuda is safe, says Soepandi<\/p>\n
FUKUOKA, Japan (Agencies): Garuda Indonesia's President
\nSoepandi yesterday defended the airline's safety record after a
\nfiery DC-10 crash, but promised more Japanese-speaking
\nstewardesses after complaints about evacuation procedures.<\/p>\n
Soepandi, who flew in yesterday to handle the crisis, said
\nGaruda had had no accident on flights between Japan and Indonesia
\nfor 33 years, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
Investigators of the takeoff crash of the DC-10, packed with
\nmainly Japanese holidaymakers, said they would focus on engine
\ntrouble as a possible cause.<\/p>\n
The airliner, bound for Denpasar and Jakarta with 275 people
\naboard, crashed on takeoff from Fukuoka airport on Thursday,
\nkilling three passengers and injuring 110.<\/p>\n
Police identified the dead as Masakatsu Okuda, 68, Koichi
\nImamura, 39, and Masatoshi Yoshida, 44, all of Fukuoka. Of the
\n260 passengers aboard, 256 were Japanese, two Indonesian, one
\nNorth Korean and one South Korean.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Ambassador to Japan Wisber Loeis expressed regret
\nover the accident, Kyodo reported.<\/p>\n
The ambassador said in a statement that he wishes \"to express
\nthe deepest concern and sympathy to the passengers who have
\nsuffered from loss and injuries\".<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, police raided the local Garuda office yesterday on
\nsuspicion that the deaths and injuries in the crash resulted from
\n\"professional negligence\", police spokesman Hisaya Takahara said.<\/p>\n
Police also seized documents at Garuda's operation office at
\nthe airport without specifying possible suspects in the case.<\/p>\n
The investigators were keen to know why pilot Ronald Longdong,
\n38, had to halt the takeoff even though there was little room
\nleft for such a maneuver on the runway, press reports said.<\/p>\n
The DC-10 is powered by three engines, one on each wing and
\nthe third on the rear fin.<\/p>\n
\"The engine was in good condition when it left Jakarta. That
\nfact is proved as the craft flew smoothly to Fukuoka,\" Soepandi
\nsaid after visiting the crash site.<\/p>\n
\"There are GE (General Electric Co.) technicians working with
\nus at Garuda, so we couldn't have missed an improvement in the
\nengines,\" he told a news conference.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Director General for Air Transportation Zainudin
\nSikado also came with Soepandi to lead the investigation.<\/p>\n
A team of six U.S. officials were to arrive today to join in
\nthe investigations, Japanese transport officials said.<\/p>\n
Fukuoka police said one Garuda flight attendant had told them
\nthat the starboard engine caught fire just after takeoff.<\/p>\n
\"Engine number three (the starboard engine) was on fire as
\nsoon as the plane left the ground,\" police quoted the
\nunidentified flight attendant as saying. \"The pilot applied
\nemergency brakes but it was too late.\"<\/p>\n
Police said they had not finished hearing from the passengers
\nand crew and had not reached any conclusion. Earlier, police and
\npassengers said the port engine had caught fire. The rear engine
\nalso had an unexplained gaping hole.<\/p>\n
\"Yes we will pay attention to reports of a possible engine
\nfailure,\" said Yoshiro Nakatsuji, head of the Japanese Transport
\nMinistry's Airplane Accident Investigation Committee.<\/p>\n
Nakatsuji said the Digital Data Flight Recorder and the
\nCockpit Voice Recorder -- the \"black boxes\" -- had been retrieved
\nfrom the aircraft and sent to the Transport Ministry in Tokyo for
\nanalysis.<\/p>\n
Passengers said they had fled flames engulfing the fuselage in
\nnear panic. Some accused flight attendants of not guiding them
\nsafely out through emergency chutes.<\/p>\n
Soepandi vowed to increase the number of Japanese-speaking
\nflight attendants to fend off criticism from some survivors of
\nconfusion during the evacuation. \"Garuda will increase the number
\nof flight attendants who can speak Japanese.\"<\/p>\n
The aircraft's chief steward earlier acknowledged that he
\ncould not warn Japanese passengers of trouble because he did not
\nspeak their language.<\/p>\n
Chanisan Hisyan gave an account of the nightmare-like scene in
\nthe cabin -- luggage flying around, smoke cutting visibility to
\nnear zero and most passengers unaware of what was happening.<\/p>\n
\"I could only give the warning of what was happening in
\nEnglish and Indonesian,\" Hisyan told a news conference.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto
\npraised the Garuda crew for safely evacuating the passengers
\nunder difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n
\"They worked just like at the training center. They were also
\ncapable of working together with the rescue team of the Fukuoka
\nairport in the evacuation effort,\" Haryanto was quoted by Antara
\nas saying.<\/p>\n
The Garuda office in Jakarta said 12 people from the crashed
\nplane were still in hospitals. Pilot Longdong is in Kimura
\nSurgery Hospital while his copilot Yudhia Putra is at Kyuhu
\nUniversity hospital. The other 10 were all Japanese passengers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/garuda-is-safe-says-soepandi-1447893297",
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