CN-235 plane crash caused by human error: Team

CN-235 plane crash caused by human error: Team

JAKARTA (JP): A military investigation team has found that the
recent crash of a locally built aircraft was caused by human
error and that there was nothing wrong with the airplane.

The chief of the Ministry of Defense and Security's team, Lt.
Col. Syarki Puteh, said there was no indication that the military
version of the CN-235 aircraft had developed any trouble before
crashing.

The plane, built by state-owned IPTN, crashed while conducting
a test to parachute-drop a four-ton cargo at Gorda Serang airbase
in West Java on May 22. All six people, including an American
instructor, aboard the airplane died in the crash.

"The rope which was connected to a parachute and was supposed
to hold the cargo, broke suddenly when the pilot was about to
drop it," Syarki said.

He said the situation deteriorated when the pilot failed to
drop the cargo although he had brought the plane upright.

"Normally, the cargo will drop if the airplane is in an upward
position. But in the incident, the cargo could not drop because
the exit was blocked by the anchor," he said.

He said the cargo's movement was also hindered because it was
jammed on a side rail.

When asked who was most responsible for the accident, Syarki
said it was the American instructor William Denton, who was on
the test flight.

Denton, who knew the specifications of each rope used in the
test, used a rope which was too weak to hold the parachute.

The Defense Ministry's director general for facility and
services, Maj. Gen. (ret) I Made Sadha, said the accident would
not affect the Armed Forces' plan to spend US$300 million to buy
several of the CN-125 military version of the aircraft.

Sadha refused to say how many aircraft the military was
planning to buy.

"The accident has not dented our trust in the CN-235
aircraft," he told a press conference packed with local and
foreign journalists.

IPTN is determined to take part in the prestigious Paris Air
Show that will open Saturday. It will display the Gatotkoco, the
N-250 prototype, and a CN-235 MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft).

In a related development, IPTN's lawyers said yesterday they
would go ahead with their plan to sue The Jakarta Post over its
report on the accident, unless the daily agreed to meet its
three-point demand for an out-of-court settlement.

The Post, quoting a source at IPTN, had reported that fire was
seen billowing from the fuselage of the plane before it crashed
and that there were indications that one of the plane's
propellers had broken before the fire started.

The demands include that a correction and apology to IPTN be
published in local and foreign publications for the inaccurate
report. The format and editorial content of the correction and
apology would be determined by IPTN.

IPTN also demands that the Post pay compensation, the amount
is to be negotiated.

"If The Jakarta Post fails to give satisfactory response
within seven days, IPTN will take necessary legal action," IPTN's
chief lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution said.

Buyung said the correction and apology that the Post made in
its May 24 edition were "inadequate" given the damage it had
caused to IPTN's reputation.

Though he believed the Post had not had bad intentions with
its May 23 article, Buyung said the Post had neglected the
negative impact of its article on IPTN as foreign newspapers
quoted it.

"The article might have been a bad advertisement for IPTN's
credibility. Some interested foreigners have questioned Habibie
(IPTN's president director) regarding the Post's article," he
said.

"IPTN may have lost an international tender for small
airplanes' procurement due to the report," he said.

He cited three Abu Dhabi newspapers and the Sunday Times of
Singapore which had quoted the Post's article.

IPTN is competing for a US$300 million procurement contracts
for small airplanes in the Middle East (United Arab Emirates),
South Korea and Australia. (imn)