Disagreement Resulted In "Absentmindedness From the Cockpit"

A senior investigator announced Sunday his preliminary findings indicate the two pilots of a Boeing 737-400 had argued moments before the Garuda Airlines jet crashed at Yogyakarta Airport in Indonesia.

The first officer on Garuda Flight 200 called for the landing to be aborted as the captain brought down the aircraft too fast and with the wing flaps only partially deployed, Indonesia's top investigator revealed, as reported by The Australian.

While not elaborating on his comment about absent-mindedness made at an earlier briefing, chief investigator Tatang Kurniardi confirmed that the airline's flaps were set at "flaps 5" -- a pre-landing configuration unable to provide the plane with enough lift or speed-dumping drag on landing.

Asked if there was evidence from the cockpit voice recorder about what happened between the two pilots, Kurniardi said, "Yes, there was some argumentation between the co-pilot and the pilot and captain relating with the speed and flaps."

He said he believed the first officer had wanted the captain to abort the landing and go around.

The investigation chief said the co-pilot had not opted to extend the flaps further because the plane was traveling too fast.

The flaps did not jam and investigators had yet to determine why Captain Komar did not go around, he said.

A pilot told The Australian yesterday that a 737-400 would normally land at flaps 30 or 40. He said the plane would normally be traveling at about 200 knots at the time flaps 5 was set.

"That's not designed to be a landing flap; you'd be going far too fast," the pilot said.

As reported by ANN, the jet burst into a fireball after overshooting the runway on landing at the airport on the main island of Java and skidding into a rice field.

The crash killed 21 people, while 119 others were able to escape through the exits of the burning jet. The pilot and co-pilot survived.

It was the fourth accident involving a commercial jetliner in Indonesia since 2005. Experts say poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of properly trained pilots may contribute to the sprawling country's poor aviation safety record.

The captain had "enough experience" after flying more than 15,000 hours, while his first officer was a "young pilot" with 2,000 flying hours, Kurniadi said.

He said the co-pilot demanded the pilot "go around." The pilot proceeded to land so fast that the co-pilot could only partially extend the flaps supposed to slow it down, Nine reported.

Kurniadi and his investigation team are to finalize their results within a month.

FMI: www.garuda-indonesia.com, www.garuda-indonesia.com