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.