AirAsia and airport staff EXPOSED as probe into crash gathers momentum

HIGHLIGHTING the depth of Indonesia’s air safety problems, the transportation ministry has revealed harsh measures against everyone who allowed AirAsia Flight 8501 to take off without proper permits — including the suspension of the airport’s operator and officials in the control tower.

The licenses and schedules of all airlines flying in the country also will be examined to see if they are violating the rules, said Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation.

The crackdown comes as searchers continue to fight bad weather while combing the Java Sea for bodies and wreckage of the Airbus A320 that crashed December 28, killing all 162 passengers and crew on board.

The plane was traveling between Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, and Singapore on a Sunday. Officials have since said its permit for the popular route was only for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and that AirAsia quietly switched three of those days. Officials in Singapore, however, have said the plane was authorized to fly on Sundays from its end.

Seats found ... National Search and Rescue Agency personnel carry seats of AirAsia Flight 8501 after being airlifted by a U.S. Navy helicopter that belongs to USS Sampson. Picture: AP Source: AP

While the airline is being investigated, Indonesia announced on Saturday that it banned all AirAsia flights between Surabaya and Singapore.

Murjatmodjo said the ministry also issued a directive December 31 ordering all airlines to provide pilots with up-to-date weather reports before they take off. Currently, it’s up to the captain and co-pilot to research and evaluate flying conditions before departing.

In other countries, the carrier’s flight operations department performs that task for them.

AirAsia Indonesia President Director Sunu Widyatmoko said by text on Monday that the airline will cooperate with the government during the evaluation, but would not comment on the permit allegations until the process is complete.

Violation of the regulations would boost legal arguments for passengers’ family members seeking compensation, said Alvin Lie, a former lawmaker and aviation analyst. But he added AirAsia would not be the only one to blame.

“The Surabaya-Singapore flights have been operating since October ... and the government didn’t know,” he said. “Where was the government’s supervision?”

The pilot ... Captain Iriyanto, who was at the helm of doomed QZ8501. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

The co-pilot ... Remi Emmanuel Plesel. Picture: AFP photo courtesy of the Plesel family Source: AFP

PILOTS ‘FLEW WITHOUT WEATHER REPORT’

Leaked documents have also revealed AirAsia Indonesia may have left the pilots of Flight QZ8501 flying blind without a required weather report before takeoff.

The Jakarta Post reports that in a leaked document that was originally sent by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan, an AirAsia flight operations officer received the required weather report only after the plane lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6.17am.

Personal luggage found ... Navy personnel show items recovered during search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501 onboard the Indonesian Navy vessel 'KRI Bung Tomo' in the Java Sea. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The plane had already departed from Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport at 5.35am.

Former National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) investigator Ruth Hanna Simatupang said that pilots were required to obtain weather reports from the BMKG at least 10 minutes before takeoff, the Strait Times reports.

“According to standard procedures, every time pilots chart flight plans, they must consider [BMKG] weather reports,” she said. “So how could the plane fly without a weather report from the agency?”

Searching ...a member of the Indonesian Air Force looks out of the windows of a helicopter during a search operation for the victims and wreckage of AirAsia Flight QZ 8501. Picture: AP Source: AP

She said one factor might be the early-morning departure.

“The flight departed really early in the morning and the crew had to get ready at least 2.5 hours before that because it was an international flight.”

Murjatmodjo planned to meet Monday with the Corruption Eradication Commission to discuss whether to investigate AirAsia’s operations.

Business in the country is commonly conducted using bribery, with payoffs often seen as the most efficient way to get things done.

After Indonesia deregulated its aviation industry in the 1990s, dozens of airlines emerged making air travel affordable for the first time for many in the world’s fourth most populous nation. But accidents in recent years have raised urgent questions about the safety of Indonesia’s booming airline sector.

FAMILIES OFFERED $30,000 FOR LOST LIVES

The daughter of the pilot of doomed AirAsia Flight 8501 has issued a passionate plea for people not to blame her father.

“He is just a victim and has not been found yet. My family is now mourning,” Angela Anggi Ranastianis said.

Her family was among relatives of the 162 downed passengers and crew yesterday who received a letter from the Malaysian based airline outlining details of preliminary compensation.

An entitlement of about $30,000 has been proposed for each family member on the plane.

Paying tribute ... members of Mawar Sharon church attend a prayer service for the relatives of lost loved ones aboard the AirAsia Flight 8501, in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. Picture: AP Source: AP

Weather at the crash site in the Java Sea off Borneo abated yesterday — nine days into the search — allowing Indonesian Navy divers to enter the water to inspect several pieces of suspected wreckage.

Of major concern to searchers is the lack of “pings” from the aircraft’s black box flight recorders.

Among the passengers on the plane were 41 members of an Evangelical Church in Indonesia’s second biggest city, Surabaya.

“It might sound like nonsense but we have to believe that God has a plan,” Philip Mantofa, the Mawar Sharon Church’s pastor, said as he led prayers for the dead.

A pair of glasses ... from the plane crash site. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

ICING - THE TRIGGER FOR THE PLANE CRASH

Speculation about the crash, just 40 minutes into the two-hour flight from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday December 28, is now focused on severe icing and pilot error as probable causes.

Icing was the primary cause of the crash of an Air France Airbus A330 off the coast of Brazil in 2009 with the loss of 228 lives.

An initial report by Indonesia’s meteorological agency BMKG suggested the weather was the “triggering factor” behind the crash of the AirAsia airliner.

A piece of the window panel ... recovered in search operations for the ill-fated jetliner. Picture: AP Source: AP

The report referred to satellite images that showed the aircraft was passing through cloud top temperatures of minus 80 to minus 85 degrees Celsius.

Structural failure is regarded as highly unlikely after four large chunks of wreckage were located in a small area on the sea floor by sonar systems on board US and Indonesian warships.

Divers will focus on the biggest piece (18 metres) that is possibly the tail section of the jet where the black box flight data and cockpit voice recorders were housed.

They will hold the keys to the likely causes of the tragedy.

Wreckage ... on-board Indonesian Navy vessel 'KRI Bung Tomo' in the Java Sea. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The search area was expanded further east on Monday, with Monsoonal weather and high winds of the past week scattering bodies and debris over a vast area of ocean. Twenty aircraft and 27 ships from several nations are engaged in the grim operation.

Just 34 bodies have been recovered.

Those on board included 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one Briton and a Frenchman — the copilot Remi Plesel.

Search and rescue official SB Supriyadi said he hoped for a continued improvement in the weather.

“Hopefully the weather is good today so that the ROVs (remotely-operated underwater vehicles) and other instruments can be used and our divers can go to the seabed again,” Mr Supriyadi said.

Items found ... during search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

AIRASIA CEO: ‘FACTS WILLCOME OUT’

Meanwhile AirAsia has been suspended from flying the route from Surabaya in eastern Java to Singapore after it emerged that it had ignored a ban on Sunday flights.

The airline was yesterday forced to play down an incident at Surabaya airport where one of its planes turned back before takeoff after an auxiliary power unit failed.

Initial reports suggested an engine explosion but that was incorrect.

AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes lashed out at the initial media reports labelling them “sensational” and “silly”.

“Facts will come out. As I have said we are calm, will take the hits now as our focus is families. But time will show what AirAsia is all about,” he said on Twitter. - News.com.au