JAKARTA: Indonesian investigators blamed pilot error yesterday for the May crash of a Sukhoi jet, post-Soviet Russia’s first passenger plane, which slammed into a volcano killing all 45 on board.
The flight, with a veteran pilot at the controls, was planned as a 40-minute demonstration flight to showcase the new Russian plane to prospective buyers in Indonesia, where the aviation industry is booming.
Instead, the twin-engine Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed into the side of the 7,200-foot (2,200-metre) dormant Mount Salak on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, in a blow to Russia’s bid to improve the image of its aviation industry.
However, the National Transport Safety Committee (KNKT) absolved Sukhoi of responsibility for the crash, in a report that ruled out technical failures.
The safety board found that the aircraft’s terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) had sent multiple alerts to the pilot, who switched off the device as he assumed there was a technical problem.
“The crash could have been avoided if a recovery action was carried out within 24 seconds from the first warning,” KNKT chief Tatang Kurniadi told a press conference.
He also said that the pilot, Alexander Yablontsev, failed to make a crucial 180-degree change in direction, likely because a potential buyer had been in the cockpit for 38 minutes discussing the jet’s fuel usage, causing a “diversion of attention”.
Photos of an earlier demonstration flight on the same day as the May 9 accident showed relaxed passengers smiling on board, being treated to champagne, as well as cheerful Russian and Indonesian crew members posing outside the jet.
The report said that shortly before the crash, air traffic control had cleared a request to descend to 6,000 feet in a zone where the “minimum sector altitude was 6,900 feet”.
AFP
