Probe into SilkAir crash to continnue<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): An investigation into the crash of a
\nSingapore plane that killed all 104 on board in Indonesia more
\nthan a year ago will continue throughout 1999, Communications
\nMinister Mah Bow Tan said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission
\n(AAIC) \"expects that the investigation is likely to continue well
\ninto 1999,\" Mah said in a written reply to members of parliament.<\/p>\n
\"As I have explained to the House previously, investigation is
\nprogressing very slowly because of the high degree of destruction
\nto the aircraft and the lack of useful information from the
\nflight data and cockpit voice recorders,\" he said.<\/p>\n
SilkAir MI I85 crashed in Palembang on the Indonesian island
\nof Sumatra on Dec. 19, 1997.<\/p>\n
Oetarjo Diran, head of the AAIC in Indonesia, told relatives
\nof victims at a private briefing here last month that
\ninvestigators had ruled out terrorism, weather, aircraft
\nmaintenance, hazardous materials and air traffic control problems
\nas possible causes of the accident.<\/p>\n
There has been speculation about suicide by one of the pilots
\nas a likely cause of the crash and the investigators reiterated
\nthey could not dismiss any possibility until proven invalid.<\/p>\n
Although investigators had managed to pick up 73 percent of
\nthe wreckage or 35 tons in weight, most of it was just fragments.<\/p>\n
The investigation is also being supported by the United States
\nNational Transportation Safety Board, the Civil Aviation
\nAuthority of Singapore, and the Australian Bureau of Air Safety
\nInvestigation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/probe-into-silkair-crash-to-continnue-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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