Garuda crash pilots argued over speed: Investigator
Sydney,
Apr
1:
The
pilot
and
co-pilot
of
a
Garuda
airliner
that
crashed
on
landing
in
Indonesia,
killing
21
people,
were
arguing
moments
before
the
accident
about
the
plane's
speed,
a
senior
Indonesian
investigator
said.
Cockpit
voice
recordings
recovered
from
the
passenger
jet
showed
the
co-pilot
wanted
the
pilot
to
go
around
again
instead
of
landing,
Tatang
Kurniadi
of
Indonesia's
National
Transport
Safety
Commission
told
Australian
television.
''Absent
mindedness.
I
worry
that
this
accident
came
from
the
absent-mindedness
of
the
cockpit,''
Mr
Kurniadi
told
the
Nine
Network.
The
Garuda
Airlines
aircraft
with
140
people
on
board
overshot
the
runway
in
the
central
Java
city
of
Yogyakarta
on
March
7
and
burst
into
flames.
Five
Australians
were
among
those
killed.
Survivors
of
the
crash
have
described
how
the
aircraft
approached
the
runway
at
a
''crazy''
speed.
Kurniadi
said
the
captain
and
first
officer
were
flying
together
for
the
first
time.
''The
co-pilot
is
a
young
pilot
with
just
about
2,000
flying
hours
and
the
captain,
is
experienced,
having
enough
experience,
more
than
15,000
flying
hours,''
he
said.
Investigators
said
last
month
they
had
been
able
to
download
the
last
30
minutes
of
the
crew's
conversations
after
the
black
box
cockpit
voice
recorder,
which
was
badly
burnt,
was
sent
to
the
United
States.
''There
was
also
some
argumentation
between
the
co-pilot
and
the
pilot
and
captain
relating
with
the
speed
and
flaps,''
Kurniadi
said.
Asked
if
the
co-pilot
wanted
the
captain
to
go
around,
he
said:
''Yes,
I
think.''
Kurniadi
said
the
flaps
did
not
jam,
and
it
appeared
it
would
have
been
possible
at
that
stage
to
go
around,
but
it
was
not
known
why
the
pilot
chose
to
land.
The
investigation
was
expected
to
be
finalised
in
a
month.
Indonesia
has
suffered
a
string
of
transport
accidents
in
recent
months,
including
an
Adam
Air
aircraft
that
disappeared
in
January
with
102
passengers
and
crew
on
board
and
a
ferry
sinking
in
late
December
in
which
hundreds
died.
Rapid
growth
in
air
travel
in
Indonesia,
a
country
of
more
than
17,000
islands,
has
raised
questions
over
whether
safety
has
been
compromised
and
whether
the
infrastructure
and
personnel
can
cope
with
the
huge
increase.
Reuters