Susilo questions aviation safety standards

Susilo questions aviation safety standards

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered on Monday Minister of
Transportation Hatta Radjasa to investigate the implementation of
aviation safety standards in the country in order to prevent more
aircraft crashes.

Susilo's instruction came shortly after a Mandala Boeing-737
passenger jet crashed into a dense residential area in Medan,
North Sumatra, killing at least 143 people on board and on the
ground. The incident is the worst plane crash in the country in
five years.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed the
Minister of Transportation to carry out a thorough investigation
into the cause of the accident soon and take the necessary
measures to prevent more plane crashes in the future,"
presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.

Soaring fuel prices have hit the country's air transportation
industry hard, putting some smaller carriers out of business and
meaning others have reduced services.

Hatta flew to Medan 90 minutes after the crash, which occurred
shortly after 10 a.m.

"The President offers his deep condolences to the families of
the victims of Mandala crash," Andi said, adding that Susilo had
asked Hatta to coordinate the deployment government officials to
help survivors and provide them with medical support.

The minister was also ordered to release complete information
to the public about the cause of the accident, Andi said.

Earlier in the day, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the
accident was a warning to the government that it must improve its
supervision of the country's transportation system.

"We are aware that every technical weaknesses may cause a
calamity. Our national airline companies must be more careful in
running their transportation systems," he said after presiding
over a ministerial meeting on the fuel subsidy.

Mandala Airlines spokesman Alex Widjoyo said the company had
followed safety standards, including regular maintenance of its
fleet of 15 aircraft.

"We have 13 Boeing 737-200s and two Boeing 737-400s, all of
which are in good condition. All our planes and pilots last
underwent regular checks by the transportation ministry at the
end of 2004. They were declared fit to fly," Alex said.

Most of the company's aircraft are more than 20 years old and
consist mainly of vintage Boeing 737-200 jets, AP reported.

Mandala Airlines was established and began operational in
1969. It is 90 percent owned by Army Strategic Reserves Command's
Dharma Putra Kostrad Foundation. Former president Suharto, also a
former Kostrad chief, was instrumental in setting up the airline,
which involved the Nusamba group.

Separately, chairman of the House's Commission V on
transportation Sofyan Mile urged the government to tighten the
issuance of licenses to new airline companies.

"If it is found later that technical errors were behind the
plane crash, the government as regulator must take the necessary
measures to tighten the issuance of operational licenses for the
sake of passengers' safety," Sofyan said.

The House has sent a group on a fact-finding mission to Medan,
where it will join a team of investigators from the National
Transportation Safety Commission.

The commission has asked the transportation minister to appear
in a hearing to discuss the accident later this week. (006)