2 commercial planes grounded for safety

2 commercial planes grounded for safety

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Ministry of Transportation has grounded two aircraft that
failed to comply with proper safety requirements, a senior
official says.

Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa said on Tuesday his
department had completed an audit of the country's operating
airlines -- including their financial reports, aircraft and
maintenance procedures.

"We found two aircraft (that did not follow proper safety
measures). They were immediately grounded," said Hatta without
elaborating.

The audit was conducted following the deadly crash of a Lion
Air plane in Surakarta, Central Java less than two months ago,
which, according to critics, exposed a lack of supervision on
part of the government over the industry's safety measures.

Hatta said several airlines had been also given warnings to
provide the necessary equipment required by standard safety
regulations.

"We give them time (to comply) and we'll check them again. If
they still have not complied, we'll ground them as well," warned
Hatta.

Lion Air spokesman Hasyim Arsal Alhabsi said none of its fleet
had been grounded.

"In fact, we have 10 new aircraft coming in," he said.