Lion Air copilot moved to Jakarta

Lion Air copilot moved to Jakarta

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The copilot of the Lion Air MD-82 that skidded off a runway in
Surakarta and crashed last week, Steven Liesdek, was transferred
from Kasih Ibu Hospital in the Central Java town to Pertamina
Hospital, South Jakarta.

The Suriname national is a key witness the National Commission
on Transportation Safety intends to question for leads into the
cause of the accident that left 26 dead, including pilot Dwi
Marwastoro.

However, the questioning will be delayed until the 33-year-old
man undergoes further treatment to stabilize his condition.

"He is not yet stable mentally, as he has suffered a minor
concussion. It will take about a month for him to recover fully,"
Dr. Umar Bahaswan, who treated Liesdek at Kasih Ibu Hospital,
told Antara.

The copilot also underwent an operation to reset his broken
arms.

Liesdek was picked by his brother, Benito, and visited Lion
Air stewardess Laura before his departure for Jakarta. Laura has
been in the Intensive Care Unit of Kasih Ibu since the accident.

Meanwhile, Lion Air provided Rp 40 billion (US$4.4 million) in
compensation for families of those killed in the accident.

The transportation safety body sent on Monday the plane's
black box, with Cockpit Voice Record (CVR) and Flight Data Record
(FDR) intact, to the United States for examination.

In Jakarta, the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction at the
House of Representatives urged the government to review
regulations on safety standard and national transportation
management to prevent potential accidents.

"We urge the House of Representatives to set up an
investigative team, the results of which can be used as input for
reviewing the Transportation Law," PKB legislator Erman Suparno
said on Monday.

PKB legislator Yusuf Muhammad was killed in the Lion Air
crash, the worst air disaster in seven years.

The faction warned the government of the possibility of more
accidents as the rainy season neared its peak and the number of
holiday revelers increased ahead of Christmas and New Year.

It also accused the government of doing little, if nothing, to
improve transportation safety system, citing railway safety
figures. The PKB faction said 7,240, or 86.34 percent, of railway
crossings across the country was left unguarded or without a
safety gate.

As for air transportation, the PKB noted that the Lion Air
accident was one of 10 accidents that had occurred during the
first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
administration.

"As a gesture of moral responsibility, the minister of
transportation should resign," Erman added.

Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa said last Friday that
the government was preparing a regulation that would require air
transportation operators to employ more experienced pilots.

The regulation would also set minimum flight hours for
potential of commercial planes and procedures to ascertain the
airworthiness of the aircraft before takeoff.

Under the new regulation, operators would also be required to
undergo a safety audit conducted by a team from the
transportation ministry, which will check the pilots' flight hour
requirement and aircraft maintenance.