Copilot Also Ignored Procedures, Did Not Take Control
The singing pilot of an ill-fated
Garuda flight that crashed in Indonesia, killing 21 people, ignored
as many as 15 inflight alarms on the descent to landing.
Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC)
reported details of the flight, and has made a series of
recommendations following its investigation of the March 7 crash.
The report says the pilot continued with his unstable landing
approach at excessively high speed and steep descent.
As ANN reported, the plane
overran the runway in Yogyakarta, central Java, exploded into
flames in a rice paddy field over 800 feet from the runway.
The report is based on data obtained through analysis of the
plane's flight data recorders. It found the pilot was "singing"
during the approach, below 10,000 feet and prior to reaching 4,000
feet, which was "not in accordance with the Garuda Basic Operations
Manual policy for a sterile cockpit below 10,000 feet," according
to Theage.com.
"The pilot was probably emotionally aroused because his
conscious awareness moved from the relaxed mode "singing" to the
heightened stressfulness of the desire to reach the runway by
making an excessively steep and fast, unstable approach," the
report said.
The pilot, who was uninjured, later "fixated" on landing the
aircraft, ignoring loud alarms in the cockpit and two calls from
his copilot to abort the landing, the report said.
The pilot acknowledged there was
emergency by saying, "Oh, there is something not right", the report
said. The pilot also earlier indicated there was a need to conserve
fuel, as ANN reported.
"The pilot in command's intention to continue to land the
aircraft, from an excessively high and fast approach, was a sign
that his attention was channeled during a stressful time," the
report said, adding the copilot failed to take the aircraft's
controls when the pilot ignored the warnings.
Airlines records showed no evidence the company provided
simulator training for flight crews covering required responses to
the warning sirens.
The report also said that the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation's surveillance of Garuda had failed to identify safety
deficiencies and that authorities had only checked the plane's
safety and airworthiness twice in the past ten years.
Additionally the airport did not meet international runway
standards, and its rescue and firefighting vehicles were
ill-equipped and unable to reach the crash site, which may have
"significantly reduced survivability," according to the report.
The resulting fire was not fully extinguished for over two
hours, the report stated.
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