Indonesia's air space is getting busier. In 2012, there were more than 1.5 million flights in and out of the archipelago -- more than double the previous year.
It is a result of an unprecedented boom in air travel. The country saw double-digit growth in passenger volume over the last five years, but its aviation infrastructure has barely kept up.
The radar system, for example, has failed on several occasions at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport. Built more than 25 years ago, it was not designed to track 1,200 aircraft movements on a daily basis.
Captain Bambang Adisurya, a director at the International Federation of Airline Pilots Association, said: "This has been discussed many times at international forums. They've said the same thing.
"For example, their aircraft were put on hold upon entering Soekarno-Hatta airport. They've also lamented during our conversations that flying into Indonesia is always crowded."
Captain Bambang, who is also a pilot with Garuda Indonesia, felt that delays are inevitable -- a result of overcapacity at major airports.
Indonesia's are traffic controller has plans to ease the situation. It is investing US$250 million over the next three years for an air traffic flow management system.
It will help air traffic controllers compute, with precision, all aircraft movements in and out of Indonesia -- thus cutting down delays.
Amran, director of air traffic management at AirNav Indonesia, said: "In 2016, the time we implement initially the air traffic flow management, we aimed for a 15 minutes cut in delays for about 30 per cent of the total aircrafts. We expect that there will be 3,000 movements in that year. In 2017 for instance, our target is for aircraft to only face a two or three minute delay."
Indonesia used to have three air traffic control operators, each with its own system of traffic management. A series of air disasters five years ago led the International Civil Aviation Organisation to recommend that Indonesia use just one operator.
AirNav is now the only one managing Indonesia's air space. It is responsible for air traffic control in more than 150 airports across the country. That includes dozens of military air bases which are open for commercial use.
Captain Bambang added: "Jogjakarta airport is an example where it is also used by military planes for training. Its runaway and apron are quite narrow. When we fly into the airport, we've been regularly told to hold for up to 20 minutes because the air traffic is heavy due to military training."
Like several air bases in Indonesia, the one in Bandung, West Java, has been turned into an international airport. It now serves about 30 schedule flights a day -- in addition to military use and a private flying school.
The Indonesian government is rushing to upgrade existing airports and build new ones to accommodate over 70 million air passengers, a number that is still growing. This includes replacing out-of-date systems that could potentially cause accidents.
However, it require time and huge investments. So until that happens, travellers getting in and out of Indonesia can expect delays of at least 30 minutes, especially at major airports such as Jakarta.
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About time they invest some money into the traffic system with the congestion and growth rate they're experiencing. However, how much of this money will really go into the improvement of the system awaits to be seen, if you know what I'm talking about.
A group of 83 passengers aboard an Asiana Airlines flight which crash-landed in San Francisco has filed a lawsuit seeking millions from the aircraft's manufacturer Boeing, their lawyers said Tuesday.
While a final determination of what caused the deadly crash of the Boeing 777 is years away,Chicago-based Ribbeck Law said initial reports indicate it could have been caused by a mechanical malfunction of the auto-throttle.
Boeing could also have been at fault for the design of sliding ramps which deployed inside the plane, "further injuring passengers and blocking their exit to safety," Ribbeck said in a press release.
There were also possibly problems with the seatbelts given that police officers "had to pass knives to crew members inside the burning wreckage" so they could cut passengers free," Ribbeck said.
The class action lawsuit was filed in Chicago, Boeing's corporate headquarters.
It will be expanded in coming days to include Asiana and several component part manufacturers "who may be responsible for this disaster," Ribbeck said.
The Asiana jet from Shanghai via Seoul clipped a sea wall with its tail as it came in to land at the US airport on July 6 and skidded out of control before catching fire, leaving three dead and more than 180 injured.
Zhang Yuan, who suffered severe spinal injuries and a broken leg, said it was important that victims protect their rights "immediately."
"It is terrible that the sliding ramps deployed inside the plane blocking our way to the exit door, trapping us inside the burning plane," she said in the statement.
"My husband, my daughter, other passengers and I would not have suffered such terrible injuries if the sliding ramps and the seat belts would not have trapped us in the burning wreckage."
Ribbeck filed a motion Monday seeking to require Boeing to provide details about the jet's design and maintenance and will seek access to all of the evidence discovered in the course of the investigation.
Swift legal action is "vital" for the victims and their families because international treaties prohibit US safety regulators from making determinations of liability or fault.
"Just compensation to these families cannot be provided under the law, until liability of all parties is established first," Kelly said.
"Ribbeck Law's independent experts will monitor the official investigation and will conduct our own investigation for our clients to assign fault to each of the responsible parties for this tragedy."
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Now they start pointing fingers to the auto-throttle? Malfunctioning sliding ramps and seatbelts are now among the equipments hindering with rescue efforts? Boeing is in serious hot soup now. With the B787 still giving problems, this incident is one which they had hoped never occurred. In fact, we all do hope so.
Pilots of the Asiana Airlines Inc. jet that crashed nine days ago fear they will face criminal prosecution in the carrier's home country of South Korea, said people familiar with their thinking, a prospect that alarms U.S. pilot-union leaders and air-safety experts.
The Korean pilots of the Boeing 777, which hit a sea wall after making a dangerously low and slow approach to San Francisco International Airport in good weather, returned to Seoul on Friday. Before leaving, the pilots told associates they are concerned that their government intends to hit them with criminal charges for lapses in the cockpit.
Unlike in the U.S., South Korean law and precedent make that a possibility. South Korean law allows prison sentences of up to three years in the event of pilot negligence.
The captain of a Korean Air DC-10 that crashed in 1989 in Libya went to prison, according to news accounts at the time.
The Asiana pilots told these associates that they didn't expect to face jail time immediately upon arriving home, but they received no such assurances for the long term, according to a person familiar with the details.
Efforts to reach the pilots directly were unsuccessful. The union that represents them, the Air Line Pilots Association of Korea, has criticized the scrutiny of the crew's actions before the crash, saying information released by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has focused only on pilot error while neglecting possible contributing factors.
The South Korean transportation ministry on Wednesday is slated to kick off a four-week probe of the crash, said a senior official with the ministry. The agency plans to delve into pilot training, whether the pilots followed proper approach procedures and their prior experience landing in San Francisco.
The official said there were no current plans to charge the pilots criminally, though the final decision hinges on the probe.
The crash left three dead and dozens injured. It all but destroyed the jet, which had an estimated market value of $63.9 million, according to aviation-consulting firm Avitas.
In a meeting with Korean government officials Monday, Asiana said it would enhance its pilot training, update its data on airports with difficult approaches and move to ensure better cockpit communication with pilots.
The plan was presented as part of a session on risk management attended by eight Korean carriers, and an Asiana spokeswoman declined to elaborate. The airline previously said it planned to beef up certain kinds of training, though Asiana has repeatedly said the pilots on Flight 214 were highly experienced and their training met all domestic and international standards.
Many air-safety experts argue that making pilots criminally liable threatens to chill their voluntary reporting of hazards and prevent airlines from benefiting from other confidential safety information needed to eliminate budding dangers. And when prosecutors pursue prison terms after a crash, critics contend, it makes it harder to determine precisely what happened.
U.S. pilot-union officials and safety advocates have launched a behind-the-scenes effort to head off any criminal action, seeking support from U.S. government and airline officials.
"I am concerned about the issue," said Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest pilot union in North America, which assisted the Asiana pilots during the crash investigation. Criminalization, he said, can end up "crippling the ability to learn from accidents so they can be prevented."
U.S. laws and tradition essentially preclude criminal charges even against pilots who cause fatal accidents, except when their actions are intentional, egregiously reckless or result from drugs or alcohol.
But from Asia to Europe to Latin America, judges and prosecutors over the years have filed criminal cases, typically over the strong objections of labor, independent air-safety groups and the International Civil Aviation Organization, an arm of the United Nations.
France, Spain, Brazil and Indonesia are among countries where air crashes have spurred criminal probes. The moves prompted ICAO to set up a special task force that recently submitted recommendations, which remain confidential, to prevent criminalization of accidents.
Kenneth Quinn, the task force's vice chairman and a partner in the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, said criminal action shouldn't follow a crash "unless there is evidence of willful misconduct or gross negligence." Mr. Quinn is general counsel of the nonprofit Flight Safety Foundation, which fights air-accident criminalization.
Some say moves to file criminal charges sometimes can be understandable. In countries where crash victims or their families "don't have a viable way to get meaningful compensation" through civil procedures, "it's natural for people look toward criminal prosecution," said James Kreindler, a plaintiffs' attorney with the New York law firm Kreindler & Kreindler LLP.
Meantime, there has been criticism over the NTSB's extensive, early disclosures of preliminary data from its investigation. Some of the pilots' backers feel the focus on apparent pilot error may provide ammunition for those inclined to pursue a criminal case.
Last week, ALPA criticized the safety board for "prematurely releasing" information from recorders aboard Asiana 214, before investigators fully interviewed the pilots. The union also complained that without providing the full context behind data that was made public, such disclosure "represents a potential detriment to flight safety."
An NTSB spokeswoman said "we routinely provide the public with factual information" about accidents. "For the public to have confidence in the investigative process," she said, "transparency and accuracy are critical."
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This is sad isn't it? Errors of a pilot that is not being committed willfully being subjected to criminal charges in the country. From having one of the best jobs in the world, you ended up in a small prison cell for not doing your job fitting to expectations.
South Korea's Asiana airlines will be subject of a three-week government investigation after one of its passenger jets crash landed in San Francisco, officials said Monday.
The transport ministry also ordered all South Korean airlines to step up safety measures and provide additional training for their pilots and crew.
"South Korean airlines are required to strengthen safety measures in all areas, from flight operation, maintenance and their operation manuals to facilities," vice transportation minister Yeo Hyung-Koo said in a statement released by his office.
The order came Monday at talks between transportation ministry officials and executives from the country's eight carriers.
The probe into Asiana will investigate whether it violated any rules in its operation and training, the ministry said.
Four pilots from the Boeing 777 that crashed on July 6 will be questioned from Wednesday. The pilots returned home on Saturday after being quizzed by US aviation officials.
The Asiana jet from Shanghai via Seoul clipped a sea wall with its tail as it came in to land at the US airport and skidded out of control before catching fire, leaving three dead and more than 180 injured.
Two teenage Chinese girls died immediately after the accident and another girl, also Chinese, died from her injuries on Friday.
Asiana said Monday it would file a defamation suit against Fox network affiliate KTVU news Channel 2 in Oakland for mistakenly confirming and airing false and offensive names for the pilots.
It cited the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as its source, but quickly realised the mistake and apologised. The NTSB blamed the mistake on an intern.
"The KTVU broadcast has seriously undermined the honour of our company," the carrier said in a statement.
The ministry said it had received a message of regret from the NTSB over the report.
Two of the four Asiana pilots onboard were in the cockpit at the time of the crash.
Questions have been raised about whether their perceived lack of experience in flying the B777 played a role in the accident -- the carrier's first passenger jet crash in 20 years.
Lee Kang-Kuk, a pilot for 10 years, was at the controls and in the middle of training to fly the B777, which he had flown for around 40 hours previously.
Lee Jung-Min, acting as co-pilot and trainer, had received his teaching license for the aircraft a month before the accident and had flown the B777 for 3,200 hours before.
Asiana has argued the pair were "competent" veterans with around 10,000 flying hours including dozens of flights to San Francisco.
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Even the government is concerned about the safety in training and now want some answers on how did the accident allow itself to happen. This must have all the airlines based in South Korea scrambling for details/procedures to provide for the ministry to vet through.
Investigators said there was no evidence to suggest that a fire on-board a Boeing 787 Dreamliner parked at London Heathrow Airport was caused by the next-generation jet's batteries.
A team from Britain's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) was deployed following the blaze on Friday on an Ethiopian Airlines plane, which was empty at the time.
The fire is a further blow for the jet, after Boeing temporarily withdrew all Dreamliners from service earlier this year due to concerns that batteries on board could cause fires.
However, the latest incident was not down to the batteries, said the AAIB, an agency of Britain's Department of Transport ministry.
Following Saturday's first stage of its probe, the AAIB found there was "no evidence of a direct causal relationship" between the batteries and the incident at Heathrow.
"The aircraft is currently located in a hangar at London Heathrow," the it added.
"There has been extensive heat damage in the upper portion of the rear fuselage, a complex part of the aircraft, and the initial investigation is likely to take several days," it said.
"It is clear that this heat damage is remote from the area in which the aircraft main and APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) batteries are located and at this stage there is no evidence of a direct causal relationship."
Television pictures showed burn marks on the top of the plane near the back, just in front of the vertical stabiliser.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said it had also sent an official to Britain to gather facts for its own regulatory body, the US National Transportation Safety Board.
A spokesman for Ethiopian Airlines said it was investigating the incident but had no plans to ground its fleet of four 787 Dreamliners.
"Ethiopia's Dreamliners will continue to fly," Hailu Teklehaimanot told AFP in Addis Ababa.
"The incident at Heathrow is not being treated as flight-related as the incident happened after being grounded for eight hours."
A global grounding order on the Dreamliner was issued in January after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two different jets, with one of them catching fire while the aircraft was parked.
The US aviation giant has since rolled out modifications it says will ensure the planes are safe.
Boeing's shares closed 4.7 per cent lower at $101.87 in New York trading on Friday, clawing back from a dive of more than seven per cent.
Heathrow, the world's busiest international passenger airport, shut down for 90 minutes following the incident, and there were still knock-on delays on Saturday.
A spokeswoman told AFP that about 40 flights had been cancelled throughout the day, largely due to aircraft being out of place, but said delays to other flights were "minimal".
In a separate incident on Friday, a Dreamliner flying from Manchester in northwest England to Florida was forced to turn back after experiencing a "technical issue" after take-off.
It was operated by Thomson Airways, which only three days earlier had become the first British airline to fly the plane.
The Dreamliner should have entered passenger service in 2008 but it was not until October 2011 that the first commercial flight was operated by Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways.
It has been marketed as a quiet, fuel-efficient aircraft carrying between 201 and 290 passengers on medium-range routes.
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Not a direct relation to the battery but the burning spot is very near to the APU and batteries. Some food for thought here. We'll see what AAIB says after they have a conclusion with the investigations.
US officials apologized late Friday for mistakenly confirming false and offensive names identifying the pilots of the Asiana flight that crashed in San Francisco last weekend, leaving three dead and scores injured.
Fox network affiliate KTVU news Channel 2 in Oakland identified the pilots in their noon broadcast Friday as "Sum Ting Wong," "Wi Tu Lo," "Ho Lee Fuk," and "Bang Ding Ow."
KTVU cited the National Transportation Safety Board as their source, but quickly realized the mistake and apologized.
"These names were not accurate despite an NTSB official in Washington confirming them late this morning," KTVU said.
The NTSB later apologized for the "inaccurate and offensive names that were mistakenly confirmed" as those of the Asiana pilots -- and blamed the mistake on an intern.
"In response to an inquiry from a media outlet, a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft," the statement read.
The NTSB "does not release or confirm the names of crew members or people involved in transportation accidents to the media," the board said.
"Appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that such a serious error is not repeated."
The NTSB told the San Francisco Chronicle that the offensive names "originated at the media outlet," and that the intern did not realize they were offensive and was "acting in good faith and trying to be helpful."
Three people died when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport on July 6 and more than 180 were injured.
In Seoul, Asiana Airlines earlier identified the pilot flying the Boeing 777 that crashed as Lee Kang-Kuk, 46.
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Not funny at all. And how did it even end up on the news is mind boggling. A total disrespect for everyone involved in the crash.
A third girl, reportedly Chinese, died Friday of injuries sustained in the Asiana jet crash in San Francisco, as authorities confirmed that a firetruck ran over one of the other victims.
Two female Chinese teenagers died July 6 when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport, with the accident leaving more than 180 others injured.
The third victim had been in critical condition and died early Friday, San Francisco General Hospital said in a statement, adding that the family had asked further details to be withheld.
China's official news service Xinhua, citing the hospital, described the victim as a female Chinese student.
The third death was confirmed shortly after San Francisco police told AFP that one of the teenagers who died in the crash "had been run over at least one time by a fire truck."
Police spokesman Albie Esparza said it is not yet clear whether or not the teen was already dead.
Firefighters, who raced to the scene shortly after the crash to help douse the flames blazing from the aircraft, had earlier told police of the "possibility" that one of their trucks ran had ran someone over.
The police investigation concluded that the accident occurred because firefighters had sprayed the immediate ground area with white foam, used as a flame retardant, Esparza explained.
"It's believed that the victim was on the ground, covered, and not seen by anybody," he added.
"So when the fire truck moved to reposition itself, that is when the body of the victim was discovered lying in the track of the fire truck."
Authorities are still conducting an autopsy to determine cause of death, Esparza added. The coroner's office could not immediately confirm when final autopsy results will be available.
Of the others who were injured when the plane crashed, two adults remain in critical condition, SFGH said, noting that the hospital is still caring for three other adults and a child.
According to preliminary findings from a US transport safety agency probe, the plane crashed because it was flying too low and too slowly as it approached the runway.
The tail of the aircraft broke off as the plane clipped a seawall short of the runway, skidding out of control and quickly catching fire.
The airplane pilot, 46-year-old Lee Kang-Kuk, was an experienced aviator but was undergoing his first major training on the Boeing 777, and it was his co-pilot's first time working as instructor.
The US National Transportation Safety Board has said analysis of cockpit voice recorders showed the pilots made no mention of the too-slow speed during the plane's doomed approach until it was 100 feet from the ground.
The NTSB had previously revealed the plane's speed had dipped to 103 knots three seconds before the crash -- sharply below the target landing speed of 137 knots at the threshold of the runway.
Asiana Flight 214, from Shanghai, with a stop in Seoul, had 307 people on board, including 16 crew members. Some 123 escaped unharmed.
There were 141 Chinese passengers on board the plane. As of Thursday, Xinhua reported that six of the Asian country's nationals remained in area hospitals.
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A sad news to hear. Another young life lost due to the crash. Hopefully one of the casualties didn't die due to the fire truck running over her.
