Official cites engine failure as cause of plane crash in HK

Official cites engine failure as cause of plane crash in HK

JAKARTA (JP): A preliminary study indicates that engine
failure caused the Pelita Air Services transport plane to lose
control and plunge into the Hong Kong harbor as it was taking off
from Kai Tak airport last Friday, a senior Ministry of
Transportation official said yesterday.

Director General of Civil Aviation Zainuddin Sikado told
reporters yesterday that the Pelita pilot lost control of the
plane because of engine trouble.

"I can't speak about the pilot, as pilots have their
qualifications to fly aircraft," he said when asked if human
error was the likely prime cause of the accident, which killed
six Pelita crew members and injured six others.

"I think the speed was not strong enough for the aircraft to
take off," he said.

Sikado said the plane's flight data and voice recorders have
been sent to Britain for expert analysis.

He said that all planes are subject to regular checks but
accidents still happen.

"Last year, another Hercules crashed, also because of engine
trouble," he said, stressing that this is a problem for the
aircraft manufacturer to deal with.

"But, who knows, there may be one or two planes having
technical imperfections out of a thousand products. Technical
malfunctioning may affect fuel and hydraulic systems, or come
from a leaking oil pump system, as happened with Gatari's Bell-
212 helicopter, which crashed in Central Sulawesi on Saturday."

In the case of the Gatari crash, three people were killed and
one survived.

Sikado acknowledged that 80 percent of all air crashes
worldwide have been caused by the human factor. Technical factors
account for only five percent and 15 percent are attributed to
weather factors.

Minister Haryanto has urged that all aircraft in operation
have well maintained machines, while all plane crews must have a
high level of discipline in operating aircraft. (icn)