By: Bmused55 - 19th March 2007 at 14:56
All the pics I’ve seen show the trailing edge flaps at around the 5 degree position.
Those flaps would not simply retract on their own once the landing went pear shaped.
By: steve rowell - 19th March 2007 at 05:49
The Garuda Indonesia airliner crash that killed 21 people, including five Australians, was caused by the passenger jet attempting to land at a higher-than-normal speed.
The Boeing 737-400 was carrying 140 people when it overshot the runway at Yogyakarta on March 7.
The chief crash investigator, Mardjono Siswosuwarno, said the aircraft’s wing flaps failed to extend for landing, and that might have been caused by the high speed.
“This could be a contributing factor, but what is more important is that the plane’s speed was higher than normal. Why? We don’t know yet,” said Mr Siswosuwarno, from the National Transport Safety Commission.
Survivors of the crash have described how the aircraft approached the runway at a “crazy” speed.
Mr Siswosuwarno said experts in the US had fixed the cockpit voice recorder after it was badly burnt when the plane burst into flames. Investigators can download the last 30 minutes of the crew’s conversations, he said.
Police have questioned the pilots and cabin crew.
By: steve rowell - 14th March 2007 at 05:00
Claims by the two Garuda pilots involved in last week’s fatal crash that the jet was brought down by a sudden gust of wind have been discredited by the pair’s own conversations with air-traffic controllers.
Transcripts obtained by The Australian reveal a routine descent before the disaster in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, with wind conditions described several times as “calm”.
As the bodies of the five Australians who died were being prepared for repatriation last night, the two pilots were interviewed by Indonesian police and could face charges over the tragedy. The new control tower evidence confirms there were no sudden gusts of wind as flight GA200 came in to land on Wednesday. This contradicts reported claims by the two pilots that the plane was subjected to a sudden down draught.
Nor was there any suggestion of alarm or panic on the Boeing 737-400’s flight deck during its final seconds, according to a transcript of the control tower’s routine conversation with Captain Marwoto Komar and his co-pilot, Gagam Rachman.
The five Australians among the 21 people killed when the plane overshot the runway are Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish, Jakarta embassy staff members Liz O’Neill and Allison Sudrajat, and Australian Federal Police officers Mark Scott and Brice Steele. Their bodies were to be flown out of Yogyakarta last night.
Sydney Morning Herald journalist Cynthia Banham remains in a critical condition in Royal Perth Hospital after one leg and part of another was amputated this week in an attempt to save her life.
Another survivor, Hong Kong-based Australian banker Roger Tallboys, is being treated in Singapore.
According to the still-secret log of control tower communications with pilots using Yogyakarta airspace last Wednesday, Komar and Rachman made an unremarkable descent with visual identification of the runway established about 16km from their destination.
At 23.52 GMT, or 7.52am local time, the plane was given clearance to descend to 2500ft in preparation to land.
At the same time, a military flight bound for Jakarta was given immediate permission to leave the airport with the instruction: “Wind calm cleared for takeoff.”
Another aircraft, an air force Bravo Mentor training plane with the callsign J-406, was also given clearance to take off; its pilot was informed that the doomed Boeing was still several kilometres from its destination and on its final approach.
Asked whether he was ready to make an immediate takeoff, the pilot of J-406 answered: “Affirmative,” and was told “clear for line up report ready”.
The Boeing was at this point just 11km away, in clear sight of the runway and with nothing reported amiss.
GA200 was then ordered by the tower at 7.56am to confirm its final landing preparations.
“GIA200 wind calm check gear down and lock clear to land,” was the instruction from the control tower, to which the Garuda pilots answered: “Clear to land GIA200.”
That was the final communication between tower and flight deck; the log then shows at 7.37am and 50 seconds – barely more than a minute later – the single entry: GIA200 CRASH LANDING.
The log then shows a car – most likely a rescue vehicle – immediately requesting permission to enter the restricted runway space. Permission is given with a simple “VCP silahkaan (please go ahead)”.
The pilot of the training plane J-406 had by this time cleared the takeoff air space and had looked below him and seen the flaming wreckage. He asked the control tower: “Sir, what is that at the end of the runway?”
The answer: “Yes, sir, it appears (flight) 200 has crashed sir, at the end of the runway, sir.”
Weather conditions, according to meteorological data notes compiled in the control tower, were good at the time of the crash: visibility was at least 5000m despite an amount of air haze and there were no wind gusts recorded.
Both pilots were in good physical condition during their interviews yesterday at Yogyakarta regional police headquarters.
Doctors and the men’s lawyers said they were now comfortable with the pair being questioned about the crash, one week after the disaster.
They had previously been under police guard, first at a military hospital and then at an undisclosed location.
“The investigation is now under way and they are ready for it,” lawyer Kamal Firduas said.
Asked how long the inquiry would take, Yogyakarta regional police chief Anggoro Rahardjo Harry Anwar said: “The length of time can’t yet be determined … this is not as simple as cooking fried bananas.”
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By: steve rowell - 13th March 2007 at 01:37
Crash investigators have ruled out suggestions of a downdraft being responsible for the Garuda Airlines disaster this week that killed 21 people, including five Australians.
Crash scene head, Marjono Siswo Suwarno, said early investigations had revealed weather conditions were fine at the moment flight 200 from Jakarta crash-landed just before 7am on Wednesday.
The Boeing 737-400 broke up and burst into flames after failing to pull up in time on the notoriously short runway at the central Java city of Yogyakarta.
The five Australians presumed dead are Jakarta embassy staffers Liz O’Neill and Allison Sudrajat, Australian Federal Police officers Mark Scott and Brice Steele, and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish.
Australian forensics specialists yesterday examined human remains presumed to be of the five, at Yogyakarta’s Sardjito hospital, and hope to be able to make positive identifications by today.
“There are five bodies left here, which were examined by Australian and Indonesian forensics teams starting from yesterday morning,” hospital spokesman Trisno Nugroho said.
“It’s not thought that any of the five are Indonesians.
“We expect to have certainty and the names by the middle of the day on Saturday.”
At Yogyakarta’s airport, where Australian and Indonesian police and other investigators continue the painstaking task of piecing together the final moments of flight 200, investigations chief Mr Marjono dismissed suggestions that a down-draft had forced the jet into an uncontrollable descent.
“There was no down-draft at the point of landing,” said Mr Marjono, from Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Bureau.
“Data from the meteorological board shows that wind speed was less than five knots, so conditions were good. There was no mayday call from the plane.”
In fact, Mr Marjono added, “the final words from the control tower were ‘clear to land”‘.
Investigators continue to interview the two pilots, Marwoto Komar and Gagam Rahman, but have moved them from the secure location where they were being held after the crash. The two men had been under police guard at a military hospital in Yogyakarta.
Although Captain Marwoto hasbeen reported as being suicidal, hospital sources denied this.
Mr Marjono said he expected preliminary information from the plane’s “black box” flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder to be made available some time next week, after investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau sent the devices to Canberra on Thursday night.
By: steve rowell - 12th March 2007 at 08:45
In some sad news today the young Australian journalist Cynthia Banham who received 60% burns to her body has had both her legs amputated this morning
By: Newforest - 12th March 2007 at 07:52
Australian experts have been unable to decipher the cockpit voice recorder and it has been sent to the manufacturers in the U.S. for decoding.
By: steve rowell - 12th March 2007 at 00:26
CNN reporting today that the nosewheel ‘snapped off’.
The nose wheel snapped off because she came in too fast and bounced twice on the runway
By: Newforest - 9th March 2007 at 07:41
The captain survived the crash in which 21 passengers and one crew were killed and reportedly is being held in a military hospital. The head of GPA, identified in media reports as Captain Stephanus, said the -400 pilot reported that conditions were normal when the aircraft was 1,000 ft. above the runway. But then “the captain felt a downdraft” and the aircraft sank “rapidly,” Stephanus said.
CNN reporting today that the nosewheel ‘snapped off’.
By: steve rowell - 9th March 2007 at 06:37
The pilot of the Garuda Indonesia 737-400 that crashed in Yogyakarta said a major, unexpected downdraft caused the accident
The captain survived the crash in which 21 passengers and one crew were killed and reportedly is being held in a military hospital. The head of GPA, identified in media reports as Captain Stephanus, said the -400 pilot reported that conditions were normal when the aircraft was 1,000 ft. above the runway. But then “the captain felt a downdraft” and the aircraft sank “rapidly,” Stephanus said.
Witnesses and surviving passengers have said that the jet appeared to approach the runway at a high rate of speed. According to Stephanus, the captain “said there was a problem. There was something wrong with the flaps. The flaps cannot extend normally.”
The pilot has been a captain with Garuda for five years and has 22 years of experience… The aircraft had 35,157 flight hr. and 37,328 cycles
By: steve rowell - 9th March 2007 at 03:35
The flight data and voice recorder from Garuda flight 200 has arrived in Australia, allowing investigators to begin testing theories as to what caused the crash in Indonesia that killed at least 21 people.
By: KabirT - 8th March 2007 at 08:52
According to tonight’s news, Garuda painted over their logo on the tail of the aircraft to prevent bad publicity…
they are not the first airline to do that.
By: A13x - 8th March 2007 at 07:22
Garuda has very poor safety record
http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/search_keyword.cgi?search=Garuda
According to tonight’s news, Garuda painted over their logo on the tail of the aircraft to prevent bad publicity…
By: steve rowell - 8th March 2007 at 02:12
According to eye witnesses and survivors she was coming in way too fast
By: symon - 7th March 2007 at 11:17
I remember flying with them on a Bankok/Bali trip and possibly on to Perth in the early 90’s. I’ve always been anxious flying with some Asian operators, but sometimes there is no other option.
Thoughts go to the families of those lost.
By: steve rowell - 7th March 2007 at 10:51
118 people have survived , Not good for aviation in Indonesia at all ,with the two adam air incidents in the last few months this does not help.
Garuda has very poor safety record
http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/search_keyword.cgi?search=Garuda
By: Rickt - 7th March 2007 at 09:02
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1254581,00.html
RiCKT
By: caz66 - 7th March 2007 at 08:47
118 people have survived , Not good for aviation in Indonesia at all ,with the two adam air incidents in the last few months this does not help.
By: steve rowell - 7th March 2007 at 08:17
According to one of the survivors the aircraft was vibrating very heavily and there were two loud bangs like an engine misfiring just before touch down
By: KabirT - 7th March 2007 at 04:31
20 people are confirmed dead. Not a good time for Indonesian aviation.
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March 7, 2007 at 3:20 am