Preventing air disasters

Preventing air disasters

We were jolted last Friday by reports of the crash of the
Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300-B4 on its flight from Jakarta to
Medan. All 234 passengers and crew perished. This was the 14th
air disaster -- claiming nearly 400 lives -- for the national
airline in the past 14 years.

Compared to automobiles or ships, airplanes are safer.
According to figures released by the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) in the U.S. several years ago, the chance of
a passenger aircraft crashing is a mere one in 10 million, or
practically zero percent. This is because, compared to other
means of transportation, aircraft in use at any given time are
always the most technologically sophisticated available.

The American magazine Scientific American in May estimated
that more than 70 percent of air disasters were caused by human
error, and technical aircraft safety factors were almost
negligible. Thus, it might be advisable in probing the Airbus A-
300-B4 disaster to first consider the factors of management and
human resources.

Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) transportation
management expert BS Koesbiantoro has emphasized the need for
transportation companies to improve their management. The most
important aspects are quality control and maintenance, both of
fleet and personnel. This reminder from our ITB management expert
deserves to be heeded to avoid, or at least reduce, further
disasters.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta