Airplane accident investigation
Airplane accident investigation
From Media Indonesia
A news item on page 24 of Media Indonesia of Oct. 7, 1997 headlined Sikado rejects police involvement in unraveling GA 152 Case has set me reflecting upon the bad luck of the police because the authority given them by the law can be canceled simply through the statement of an official.
Prior to the Afro-Asia Conference in 1955 a Kashmir Princess aircraft crashed into the sea around Natuna. Police investigation later proved that the aircraft had been sabotaged. Evidence collected from this investigation is on display at the Police Museum, Jl. Trunojoyo 3, Kebayoran Baru.
Article 6 of Law No. 8/1981 stipulates that investigators are Indonesian police officers or certain civilian officials (PPNS). Article 7 paragraph (2) stipulates that PPNS must exercise their authority under the coordination of police investigators, while Article 107 paragraph (1) states that police investigators will help PPNS and give them directive, while paragraph (2) states that if a crime should be assumed to have been committed and strong evidence is present for the case to be brought to a public prosecutor, PPNS must report this to police investigators. Article 52 of Law No. 15/1992 confirms the police role as investigators. It also states that PPNS within the ministry of transportation may be authorized to act as investigators. So if the GA 152 air crash has any indication of a criminal act, police investigators are authorized to investigate. To ascertain whether or not there is a criminal act, the police, by virtue of Article 4 of the criminal procedural code, act as both investigators and detectives/examiners.
Article 34 of Law No. 15/1992 on aviation states that the government will examine the causes of an air crash in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia. It stresses that the government undertakes examination, not investigation. The clarification of this article states that this examination will be conducted by a committee comprising experts on aviation and other areas. Clearly, the Minister of Transportation Decree No. SK.2/HK.601/PHB-997 is related to Article 48 of Law No. 15/1992. It is also explained that all data collected during the examination will not be used to assign blame for the crash, but rather to prevent a similar air crash from happening. So the committee will not conduct any investigation but will, instead, examine the causes of the accident. If during the examination, there are indications and/or evidence of a criminal act, these must be passed on to the investigators. Of course, the investigators must not simply wait for evidence from the examiners. They are authorized by the law to actively seek necessary information and data.
Clearly, a deviation from the prevailing laws is only possible through the law, not through a statement or a decree.
The statement of the Director General of Air Transportation must spur all investigators to be more professional.
Prohibiting the police to carry out an investigation will not settle the problem but will rather complicate it. The ministry of transportation deserve praise for setting up a combined team. In this way both examiners and investigators will discuss together the causes of the air crash. If there is indication of a criminal act, further investigation can be conducted.
KOEPARMONO IRSAN
Jakarta