Ministry admits aviation safety standards lax

Ministry admits aviation safety standards lax

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Against the backdrop of a growing number of low-cost airlines and
recent aviation accidents, the Ministry of Transportation
acknowledged the lack of proper attention from the operators of
airlines and airports, as well as the ministry itself as the
regulator, to international aviation safety standards.

The ministry's director general of air transportation M. Iksan
Tatang said on Tuesday that the ministry was in the process of
tightening up its audit procedures for the airline industry,
including monitoring maintenance workshops, in an effort to
minimize accidents in the future.

However, he said the ministry had yet to take resolute action
against those violating the standards, with most punishments
consisting merely of administrative sanctions.

"We are trying not to look back but instead move ahead by
tightening supervision," he said.

Since the government deregulated the aviation sector in 1999,
the number of air passengers looks likely to double to 25 million
this year from 12.5 million in 2003.

Data from the transportation ministry shows that currently 28
national airlines are operating with 414 aircraft.

To attract more passengers, the airline operators have been
engaged in a fares war for the past year, giving rise to worries
that they might compromise on maintenance to reduce costs.

"The transportation ministry and stakeholders must get back on
the right track in following all the international safety
procedures. There should be no compromises on safety," airline
observer Dudi Sudibyo said on Tuesday.

Dudi said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
should also revise some of its conclusions about an accident
involving a Lion Air plane in Surakarta, Central Java, about a
year ago. He said that several regulations -- including the
standard amount of fuel pumped into the aircraft before take-off
-- had not been evaluated.

"There should be enough fuel for planes to circle when an
emergency occurs, such as in the case of the Surakarta accident,"
Dudi said.

On Nov. 30, 2004, a Lion Air McDonnel Douglas MD-82 skidded
off the rain-soaked runway at Adi Sumarmo International Airport
in Surakarta, killing 26 people and severely injuring 56 others.

In its report on the accident, which was released in February,
the NTSB said excess water on the runway following heavy rain had
caused the plane to skid off the tarmac.

It also mentioned other factors that worsened the accident,
such as a strong tail wind, a malfunctioning spoiler and reverser
on the place, and the positioning of a concrete structure that
the plane had crashed into.

NTSB chairman Setio Rahardjo has said that the results of the
investigation are final and have been submitted to the
transportation ministry.

The NTSB recommended regular assessments of runway friction
and water levels as well as the regular calibration of airport
anemometers and windsocks.

The accident prompted the transportation ministry to audit 23
international airports in the country. These audits revealed
that 17 of the airports had problems related to runway rubber
deposits on their touchdown areas, while some did not have the
additional 500 meters of runway required as an extra safety
measure.

Apart from carrying out the audits, the ministry issued
Regulation No. 35/2005 in June that capped the maximum flight
time for purchased aircraft at less than 50,000 total flight
cycles, meaning airlines cannot buy planes of roughly more than
30 years old on average.

Even after the audits, accidents continued to take place,
including the country's worst accident in eight years in Medan,
North Sumatra, where a Mandala Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashed in
a heavily populated area near Polonia Airport on Sept. 5. A total
of 102 passengers on board and 47 people on the ground were
killed while 15 passengers survived.

The latest incident took place on Tuesday morning at Soekarno-
Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng where a Batavia Air
Boeing 737-400, scheduled to fly to Medan, had to abort take-off
due to a tire blowout.

Airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II spokesman M. Wasfan said
that none of the aircraft's 179 passengers had been injured, and
that the incident was now being investigated by the NTSB.