Jet crashes due to human error: Air Force chief

JAKARTA (JP): Air Force chief Marshal Hanafie Asnan admitted on Tuesday that the spate of jet fighter crashes this year were caused by human error due to restricted flight hour training.

"The budget for the 2000 fiscal year could only provide 36,060 flight-hours for every aviator per year, while the ideal is 55,000 flight-hours," Hanafie said.

Speaking at a hearing with the House of Representative's Commission I for political, security and foreign affairs, he contended that the limited budget, which he said can only cover about 9.9 percent of the Air Force's total needs, has directly impacted the training program, particularly flight training.

The Air Force has already lost four of its limited modern fighter planes this year.

Three British-made Hawk 100/200 jet fighters and one U.S.-made A-4 Skyhawk have crashed.

The first jet fighter crashed in April in Pekanbaru, Riau. The pilot of the Hawk 200 survived the accident.

The second accident happened when an A-4 Skyhawk crashed in Pingkep, Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi while conducting air combat maneuver training. The pilot, Lt. Albert Mere, died in the crash.

On Oct. 4 another Hawk 200 ran out of fuel and crashed near Sedati village, Pekanbaru, Riau. The pilot survived the accident but remains grounded.

The latest crash of a Hawk 100 occurred on Oct. 19 near Getak Kuning village or about 500 meters from the Supadio Airbase, Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

The crash killed both aviators onboard -- Lt. Col. Teddy Bustari and Lt. Doni Kristian Simanjuntak.

Hanafie noted that the lack of flight hours of fighter pilots has increased the probability of crashes.

Nevertheless he refused to mention the amount he would like the Air Force budget to be raised by.

His meeting with legislators on Tuesday was an apparent attempt to lobby House members to ensure the government allocates sufficient money to the Air Force.

"Just like the others, the latest crash was also caused by human error," said Hanafie, who leads 28,292 personnel.

Apart from the loss of life, the crashes are depleting the Air Force's limited airpower.

Besides two squadrons, totaling 40 Hawk jet fighters, stationed in Pekanbaru Air Base and Supadio Air Base, the Air Force also has a squadron of F-5 Tigers and F-16 Falcon jet fighters stationed in Madiun, East Java.

Two of the F-16s crashed at Lumajang, East Java, in 1991 and at Halim Perdanakusumah Air Base in 1997, reducing the number of fighters to just 10.

The F-5 squadron consists of 11 planes. One F-5 fighter remains "detained" in Britain following the United States' suspension of military aid to Indonesia last November.

One bright spot for the Air Force has been the news that the Singapore Air Force intends to "donate" 19 used Italian-made Malchtti jet trainers which are similar to the OV-10 Bronco. (02)