SilkAir clarifies

We would like to refer to The Jakarta Post's publication of an article titled "Inspection on Boeing 737s" on the page 11 of the paper's Jan. 9 edition. The article said that investigators of last month's SilkAir crash believed attachments were missing on the horizontal stabilizers located at the rear of the aircraft.

We would like to inform you that in Singapore, every plane maintenance program must be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

The CAAS records on the SilkAir aircraft show that routine checks had been made and the attachments on the horizontal stabilizer of SilkAir's five B727 planes, including the plane that crashed, had been checked. It stated that the attachments were in good condition and were in place. Based on that fact, a certificate of airworthiness was issued for the SilkAir planes.

According to CAAS procedures, air records regarding a crashed plane must be secured and sealed by CAAS, as was the case on the tragic night of Dec. 19, 1997. The copy record was sent to the investigation team.

We wanted your readers to know this information.

GOPI BALA

Manager, SilkAir Indonesia

Jakarta