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