Adam Air Flight 574
Encyclopedia
Adam Air Flight 574 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight
operated by Adam Air
between the Indonesia
n cities of Surabaya
(SUB
) and Manado
(MDC
) that disappeared near Polewali
in Sulawesi
on 1 January 2007. The plane, a Boeing 737
-4Q8, was ultimately determined to have crashed into the ocean, from which some smaller pieces of wreckage have been recovered. The flight recorder
s ("black boxes") were retrieved from the ocean on 28 August 2007, while salvage efforts for some larger pieces of wreckage continued. All 102 people on board died. This is the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a Boeing 737-400
.
A full national investigation was immediately launched into the disaster, uncovering multiple maintenance issues concerning the airline as a whole, including a large number concerning the aircraft. Another possibility proposed by the families of some of the deceased is that the crash was due to a faulty rudder valve, known to have caused previous accidents and incidents
on Boeing 737s. Debris location has indicated that the plane likely struck the ocean intact. The final report, released on 25 March 2008, concluded that the pilots lost control of the aircraft after they became preoccupied with troubleshooting the inertial reference system and inadvertently disconnected the autopilot.
The crash is one of several transportation accidents, including the subsequent non-fatal crash of Adam Air Flight 172
, which between them have resulted in large-scale transport safety reforms in Indonesia, as well as the United States downgrading its safety rating of Indonesian aviation, and of the entire Indonesian fleet being added to the list of air carriers banned in the EU. Adam Air was subsequently banned from flying by the Indonesian government, and would later declare bankruptcy.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737
-4Q8, registration PK-KKW, was manufactured in 1990. Prior to service with Adam Air, the plane had flown for seven other airlines: Dan-Air
, British Airways
, GB Airways
, National Jets Italy, WFBN, Air One
, and Jat Airways
, carrying four different registration numbers, including PK-KKW. The plane had 45,371 flying hours and was last evaluated and declared airworthy by the Indonesian transport ministry on 25 December 2005. It was due to be checked again in late January 2007. The Surabaya airport duty manager said that there were no technical problems with the aircraft prior to departure.
(05:55 UTC), the plane departed from Juanda Airport
, Surabaya
, with 96 passengers (85 adults, 7 children and 4 infants) and six crew on board. The passenger list was composed mainly of Indonesian nationals; the only foreigners were an American family of three. The two-hour flight, scheduled to arrive at Sam Ratulangi Airport
, Manado
, at 16:00 local time, was as expected until the plane disappeared from air traffic control
radar
screens at Makassar
, South Sulawesi
, with the last contact at 14:53 local time (06:53 UTC). The last known beacon
position was detected by a Singapore
an satellite. The altitude of the plane was shown as 35,000 feet (10,670 m) on the radar screen.
Weather in the region was stormy; the Indonesian Bureau of Meteorology and Geophysics noted that the cloud thickness was up to 30,000 feet (9,140 m) in height and wind speed
at an average of 30 knots (59 km/h) in the area. Although the Juanda Airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura I, had given warnings to the pilot concerning the weather condition, the plane had departed as scheduled. The plane ran into crosswind
s of more than 70 knots (137 km/h) over the Makassar Strait
, west of Sulawesi, where it changed course eastward toward land before losing contact. In his last radio transmission, the pilot reported the crosswinds to be coming from the left, but air traffic control
claimed that the winds should be coming from the right. It is not yet known if this is significant to the accident, but it may indicate navigational error, or an emergency turn-around of the aircraft.
Contrary to early reports, no calls for help
were sent by the aircraft.
town and that there were 12 survivors. This led to the mobilization of an Indonesian Air Force
plane carrying hundreds of search and rescue
personnel. However the team found no sign of aircraft wreckage at the reported crash site. On 2 January 2007, the Indonesian transport minister confirmed that the plane had not yet been found and reports to the contrary were based on false rumors from local villagers passed on to local officers. It later turned out that the 12 reported survivors were actually from the MV Senopati Nusantara
, which sank only two days earlier during the same storm.
Surveiller (a military surveillance plane), two infrared
-equipped Fokker-50 aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Air Force
, a Navy Nomad
plane and six helicopter
s were amongst many vehicles dispatched to aid searching for the missing plane from the air. Indonesian sonar
-equipped military aircraft
and ships capable of detecting underwater metallic objects later joined the team, equipped with two mini remote-controlled submarines. These searched the sea for five days between 3 January and 8 January, without success.
Naval ship
s combed the Makassar Strait while military personnel went through jungles and mountains of Sulawesi. In the face of heavy rain and strong winds in the area, the search efforts, coordinated from Makassar city, were focused in the area between the coastal town of Majene
and the mountainous region of Toraja
. The search in the two areas was due to twin signals, each carrying different emergency locator transmitter
frequencies, received by the Singaporean satellite and an Indonesian military
air base. The two separate locations produced on radar screens were a spot on the sea in Majene and on land in Rantepao
, Tana Toraja
. Searches were then expanded throughout the Island of Sulawesi; some were triggered by unknown distress signals received by a commercial Lion Air
flight and an airport. A police officer at the Barru district police operational centre said that all the districts with stretches of coastline along the Makasser Strait had teams searching for the plane.
There were fears that the plane's tracking equipment and emergency locator beacon could have been damaged after the crash or weakened by interference, and that this would hamper the search. The head of the National Search and Rescue Agency told the Associated Press
that he believed the aircraft was probably lost at sea. From 5 January 2007, the main focus of the search was relocated to areas south of Manado, after Manado's Sam Ratulangi Airport
reported detecting a signal from the plane a day before. However, the rugged terrain coupled with thick and low hanging clouds continued to hamper the search efforts, and three relatives of missing passengers who overflew part of the area on a military reconnaissance plane admitted that the chances of finding the plane were slim. Officials said that it was unlikely any bodies have survived in one piece. On 14 January, at Indonesia's request, Singapore sent four towed underwater locator beacon
detectors, sometimes called Towed Pinger Locators, and six consultants in their use to aid in the search. These would successfully locate the black boxes. On 24 January, the British ship MN Endeavour joined the search. The ship is operated by local mining firm PT Gema Tera Mustikawati and is usually used by oil and gas drilling companies to map the seabed. By 24 January, the Indonesian government had spent an average of Rp 1 billion (about U.S.$110,000) a day on the search.
On 10 February, search operations were officially halted by the Search and Rescue Agency, according to Transportation Minister Hatta Rajasa, finalizing the legal status of both the plane and its passengers and crew. This announcement allowed the families of the victims to start the insurance claims process.
's sonar. First Admiral Gatot Subyanto of the Indonesian Navy indicated three locations, between 3–6 km (2–4 miles) apart, off Mamuju city on Sulawesi's western coast. Due to limitations of the navy's sonar equipment, it was not clear what the metal was, and Indonesia had no other equipment of its own. A U.S. Navy
ship, USNS Mary Sears, arrived in the area on 9 January with better equipment to help identify the objects, and on the same date a Canadian jet with five separate air crews, working in shifts, was sent to aid with aerial mapping of the suspected location. The Indonesian Marine and Fishery Department has since suggested that the metal objects could instead be instruments deployed to study the underwater sea current. A total of twelve Indonesian Navy ships were deployed in the area, including the KRI Ajak
, KRI Leuser
and KRI Nala
. Extra underwater equipment, including a metal detector and an undersea camera, was sent from the U.S., and arrived aboard the USNS Mary Sears on 17 January. The black boxes were subsequently located elsewhere, in the waters in an area known as Majene
, and a wide, sweeping search of the area revealed high amounts of scattered debris there, too. This debris was analyzed to confirm it belongs to the 737.
was found by a fisherman, south of Pare Pare, about 300 metres (984 ft) off the beach on 11 January, although it was not originally handed in as its discoverer thought it to be a piece of plywood
, only later realizing it was a piece of the tail. This was confirmed by the serial number on the stabilizer, 65 C 25746 76, which matches that of components on the missing 737. The fisherman received a reward of 50 million rupiah (equivalent to about $5,500) for his discovery. Later, other parts of the aircraft, including passenger seats, life jackets, a food tray, part of an aircraft tire, eight pieces of aluminum and fiber, an ID card, a flare and a headrest have also been recovered from the area. By 13 January, a piece of a wing was also recovered. It is unclear whether the 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long section is a section of the right wing or the left wing, although it was examined in an attempt to discover this. The total count of recovered objects associated with aircraft, as of 29 January, was 206, of which 194 were definitely from the 737. On 15 January, an unidentified fuel spill was spotted by the Singaporean reconnaissance aircraft along the western coast of Sulawesi, but by the time a ship arrived to attempt to determine whether the spill came from the aircraft it had been moved by strong currents. Although it was searched for, it was not relocated. Pieces of clothing thought to belong to passengers were also recovered, and on 15 January, pieces of human hair and what is thought to be human scalp were recovered from a headrest that had been pulled from the sea. They were DNA tested to attempt to identify them; the results of this test are, however, unknown.
(FDR) and cockpit voice recorder
(CVR), colloquially called black boxes
, were located off the coast of West Sulawesi
by the U.S. vessel Mary Sears
. The flight data recorder was located at 03°41′02"S 118°08′53"E at a depth of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), while the cockpit voice recorder was located at 03°40′22"S 118°09′16"E at a depth of 1,900 metres (6,200 ft). These positions indicate the black boxes are located approximately 1.4 km (0.869921831309729 mi) apart. The Indonesian vessel Fatahillah travelled to the location, while Mary Sears traveled to Singapore, arriving on 29 January to return the detector equipment used to locate the devices. It did not travel immediately to Singapore because it was mapping the immediate area. The Mary Sears used its side scan sonar (SSS) unit to map an area of approximately 10.3 km² (3 sq nmi) around the recorders in high resolution, an operation which required 18 passes across the area at approximately 3 knots (6 km/h), taking six hours per pass including lining up for the next pass. It discovered a large amount of wreckage in the area, which is now considered to be all that remains of the aircraft. A senior Indonesian marine official said on January 24 that he did not believe the equipment which is necessary to retrieve the boxes from that depth is available in any Asian country. The black boxes had a battery life of just 30 days, and were subsequently unable to emit locator signals.
On 3 February, Indonesian Naval
vessel KRI Tanjung Dalpele
took affected families out to the crash site where a memorial service was held, which included throwing flowers into the sea.
remotely operated vehicle
, but due to the cost of using this method of recovery—especially since such equipment required to be shipped in from elsewhere—the government placed the responsibility for the cost of recovering the recorders on Adam Air. Vice President of Indonesia
Jusuf Kalla
went as far as to question the need to retrieve the black boxes at all, although experts said in response that the accident was of international
significance
as it could indicate a fault with the aircraft. Adam Air said that in its opinion, the black boxes should be recovered, describing the accident as being relevant on both national and international levels, but refused to pay, saying that was the responsibility of the government. Indonesia did request technical assistance from the United States, Japan and France. Jim Hall, a former chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
, said that it was essential the boxes were recovered quickly, as at that point their 30-day battery life was about to expire, which it subsequently did. He cited problems such as poor visibility and strong currents making it difficult to recover the devices without the signal. Setio Rahardjo, Head of National Committee for Transportation Safety, estimated that equipment for the salvage operation, if available, would cost $100,000 per day to hire in an operation that would take around ten days, equating to U.S.$1 million.
On 31 January it was reported that the U.S. had to withdraw the vessel Mary Sears from the searches, the U.S. military saying that the vessel had other duties. Further funding and help from the U.S. would have to be approved by the Congress
. At the same time external companies were suggested as possible retrievers of the black boxes. Indonesia continued to seek help from other countries, like France and Japan. Setio Rahardjo maintained that Adam Air
should be charged with the retrieval costs.
It was originally confirmed that Indonesia would not pay for the salvage operation, neither could they force Adam Air to. On 15 February, it was reported that Adam Air had been in contact with two salvage companies, Smit Internationale and Phoenix International
, regarding the salvage operation. It was Phoenix who supplied the Mary Sears with the necessary equipment for the search operation. Adam Air received preliminary invoices and continued negotiations with the two companies. However, Adam Air announced that they did indeed intend to select a company to conduct the operation shortly and would pay for this themselves.
On 28 May, Adam Air announced they had signed a contract with Phoenix International, with original plans being for the recovery to occur in June, according to Aero News. On 23 August, the Eas arrived in Sulawesi's Makassar port to begin salvage operations, which began with several days survey. The vessel was carrying a mini submarine that can dive up to 6,000 metres (20,000 ft), and was equipped with sonar and deep sea cameras.
A Phoenix International underwater robot scouring the sea off Majene for on Sulawesi finally retrieved the Flight Data Recorder on 27 August and Cockpit Voice Recorder on 28 August. The two devices were found at a depth of around 2,000 metres (6,500 ft) and were 1400 metres (4,593.2 ft) apart. They had been moved 10 – from their original locations by powerful underwater currents. The black boxes were sent to Washington for analysis, there was fear that the recovery efforts could fail due to data destruction caused by the long submersion. The final cost of the salvage operation to retrieve the black boxes was US$
3 million, of which two million was contributed by the Indonesian government, with Adam Air paying for the rest. Efforts continued with the hope of recovering various large pieces of wreckage from the seabed.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
ordered a full investigation to discover the cause of the aircraft's disappearance, including the cause of any accident it may have had, before the main debris field had even been found. The investigation also looked at the airworthiness of the plane and standard procedure on airplane operations. A team from the United States with representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board
, the Federal Aviation Administration
, Boeing
and General Electric
were sent to Indonesia
to assist the Indonesian National Committee for Transportation in the investigation. Patrick Smith, a U.S.-based airline pilot and aviation commentator, has said that "Whatever happened to the plane, it was likely rapid and catastrophic," and said that an on-board explosion or metal fatigue
-induced structural failure were the most likely causes of the accident. There will also be a wider investigation into Indonesia's transport system as a whole. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing a low-flying, unstable aircraft in the area that the wreckage has been recovered from, but lost sight of it after hearing a loud bang. The chief of the Indonesian Plane Technicians group, Wahyu Supriantono, said that the plane was unlikely to have suffered an in-flight break up or explosion as the debris field would have been larger, and as a result, wreckage would have been discovered earlier. The Indonesian KNKT, responsible for the investigation, said that even if the flight recorders are not retrieved they still intended to publish a final report complete with a probable cause, saying they had other "facts and findings" that provide enough information to do so.
On 25 March 2008, the inquiry ruled that pilot error and a faulty navigation device downed the airliner. While cruising at 35,000 feet (10,668 m), the pilots became preoccupied with troubleshooting the aircraft's two inertial reference systems (IRS), part of the navigation system. The autopilot became disengaged and the pilots failed to correct for a slow right roll even after a "bank angle" alarm sounded. Despite the bank angle reaching 100° with almost 60° nose down attitude, the pilots did not level the wings before trying to regain pitch control. The aircraft reached 490 knots (960.3 km/h) at the end of the recording, in excess of the aircraft's maximum rated speed for a dive (400 knots). The aircraft experienced a structural failure 20 seconds prior to the ending of the recording, at which time the investigators concluded the aircraft was in a "critically unrecoverable state".
quoted one pilot as saying that "Every time you flew, you had to fight with the ground staff and the management about all the regulations you had to violate." They also claimed that if pilots confronted their seniors in the airline, they were grounded or docked pay.
reported that this may be of particular significance. The third most-complained about instrument was a fuel differential light, which received fifteen write-ups. Numerous complaints were also received about inoperative cockpit instrument lights, as well as multiple other malfunctions. Most notably, several complaints were made that the flaps
, which modify drag and lift during take-off and landing, were jamming at twenty-five degrees upon landing, and two complaints that the weather radar
was faulty.
and USAir Flight 427
, which went down in the early 1990s. They have explained that, as a result, they are suing Boeing and Parker Hannifin
, the valve's manufacturer, although airlines using the 737 have been warned about problems with the rudder control valves.
described the disappearance as an "international issue." A few days after the disappearance, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
set up the National Team for Transportation Safety and Security
, partially as a response to the high number of recent transportation accidents in Indonesia, and partially as a direct response to the event. The team was tasked to evaluate thoroughly the transport safety procedures and review the existing regulations on transportation. It was not, however, to investigate accidents; the entity deemed responsible for this was the Komisi Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT), or in English the National Transportation Safety Commission (NTSC), which is part of Departemen Perhubungan (Ministry of Transportation).
Despite this denial of any responsibility for the crash, Adam Air has compensated the families of deceased passengers Rp 500 million (equivalent to about US$55,000 or €42,000) per passenger. It also compensated families of the flight crew.
There has been some call from relatives of the deceased for Adam Air to build a memorial to the victims in Makassar
, South Sulawesi
. Adam Air said that if an agreement could be reached then they would fulfil the request.
incident. Indonesia also announced that the Transportation Ministry would be reshuffled in response to this accident, Flight 172
and the loss of the ferries MV Senopati Nusantara
and Levina 1
. Among those replaced were the directors of air and sea transports and the chairman of the National Committee for Transportation Safety. Indonesia also introduced a new system of ranking airline
s according to their safety
record, with a level one ranking meaning the airline has no serious issues, a level two ranking meaning the airline must fix problems, and a level three rating forcing the airline to be shut down.
On 16 March 2007, the Indonesian government announced plans to shut down an unspecified Indonesian air carrier. It was announced on 22 March that Adam Air was one of seven airlines that will have their licenses revoked within three months unless they could improve their safety standards. The other six airlines involved were Batavia Air
, Jatayu Airlines
, Kartika Airlines
, Manunggal Air Services, Transwisata Prima Aviation
and Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines
. The airlines were all targeted as a direct result of the crash, as they were in the third level of the ranking system introduced as a result. All 54 of Indonesia's airlines, including state-owned Garuda Indonesia
, were told they would need to make some improvements, with none of them receiving a level one ranking.
It was reported on 28 June 2007, that Adam Air would escape closure and has been upgraded one rank in safety rating, to the middle tier. The airlines that have lost their licenses are Jatayu Gelang Sejahtera, Aviasi Upataraksa, Alfa Trans Dirgantara and Prodexim and the airlines that have been grounded pending improvements and facing potential licence revocation are Germania Trisila Air, Atlas Delta Setia, Survey Udara Penas, Kura-kura Aviation and SMAC
.
On 16 April 2007, the American Federal Aviation Administration
responded to the results of the new airline survey by downgrading Indonesia's air safety oversight category from a 1 to a 2 because of "serious concerns" over safety. This means it views Indonesia's civil aviation authority as failing to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards. As a direct result, the U.S. Embassy
in Jakarta
issued a warning to all American citizens flying in or out of Indonesia to avoid using Indonesian airlines, and instead use international carriers with better safety reputations. This was followed on 28 June 2007 by the addition of all Indonesia's airlines, none of which flew to Europe at the time, to the List of air carriers banned in the EU. Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, Director-general of civil aviation at the Indonesian transport ministry, responded by saying that he felt Indonesia had made the improvements required by the EU.
Adam Air ceased operation on 18 March 2008 after its Air Operator's Certificate was suspended by the Indonesian government, and was officially suspended permanently on 18 June 2008.
, an Adam Air Boeing 737–300
aircraft (registration PK-KKV) flying from Jakarta
to Surabaya
had a hard landing at Juanda International Airport
. The incident caused the fuselage of the plane to crack and bend in the middle, with the tail of the plane drooping towards the ground. There were no reports of serious injuries from the incident. As a result, six Adam Air 737s were grounded awaiting safety checks. Adam Air described this as "harsh punishment" for an accident it blamed on poor weather conditions, but Vice President
Jusuf Kalla
had said that all Boeing 737-300s should be checked.
was widely circulated on the Internet and transcribed by the media. The recording, which had been publicly distributed through chain e-mails, begins with what is believed by some to be a conversation between pilot Refi Agustian Widodo and copilot Yoga Susanto before the crash. Approximately two minutes before the end of the recording the autopilot disconnect horn sounded, followed approximately a minute later with "bank angle" warnings from the GPWS and the altitude alerter. Immediately thereafter, as the airplane began its final dive, the shotgun-like sounds of engine compressor surges and the overspeed "clacker" could be heard along with two background voices screaming in terror, and shouting out the name of God. Towards the end of the recording there is a dramatic increase in windshield noise and two loud bangs (the second larger than the first) consistent with structural failure of the airplane, followed 20 seconds later by an abrupt silence. Likely, when the pilots regained visual ground contact, they quickly pulled up, overloading the horizontal stabilizer downwards and a main wing spar upwards. It was dismissed by the officials who said that it was not authentic and was not the original recording.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
operated by Adam Air
Adam Air
Adam Air was a privately owned airline based in West Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. It operated scheduled domestic services to over 20 cities and international services to Penang and Singapore...
between the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n cities of Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
(SUB
Juanda International Airport
Juanda International Airport , is an airport located in Sidoarjo, a small town near Surabaya, East Java. This airport serves Surabaya and surrounding areas. Juanda International Airport is operated by PT Angkasa Pura I. The airport takes its name after Djuanda Kartawidjaja, the last Prime Minister...
) and Manado
Manado
Manado is the capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Manado is located at the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area. The city has about 405,715 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar...
(MDC
Sam Ratulangi Airport
Sam Ratulangi International Airport , also known as Manado International Airport, is located in North Sulawesi, 13 km northeast of Manado. The airport is named after the Minahasan educator and independence hero Sam Ratulangi...
) that disappeared near Polewali
Polewali
Polewali is the capital of the Polewali Mandar Regency of West Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is best known as a site of the disappearance of the Adam Air Flight 574 occurred on January 1, 2007....
in Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
on 1 January 2007. The plane, a Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
-4Q8, was ultimately determined to have crashed into the ocean, from which some smaller pieces of wreckage have been recovered. The flight recorder
Flight recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...
s ("black boxes") were retrieved from the ocean on 28 August 2007, while salvage efforts for some larger pieces of wreckage continued. All 102 people on board died. This is the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a Boeing 737-400
Boeing 737 Classic
The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new...
.
A full national investigation was immediately launched into the disaster, uncovering multiple maintenance issues concerning the airline as a whole, including a large number concerning the aircraft. Another possibility proposed by the families of some of the deceased is that the crash was due to a faulty rudder valve, known to have caused previous accidents and incidents
Boeing 737 rudder issues
Starting in 1991, a number of accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 were the result of the airplanes' unexpected movement of their rudders. The rudder is controlled by the Power Control Unit . Inside the PCU is a dual servo valve which helps direct hydraulic fluid in order to move the...
on Boeing 737s. Debris location has indicated that the plane likely struck the ocean intact. The final report, released on 25 March 2008, concluded that the pilots lost control of the aircraft after they became preoccupied with troubleshooting the inertial reference system and inadvertently disconnected the autopilot.
The crash is one of several transportation accidents, including the subsequent non-fatal crash of Adam Air Flight 172
Adam Air Flight 172
Adam Air Flight 172 was a serious incident involving a Boeing 737-300, registered PK-KKV, flying on a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Indonesia between Jakarta and Surabaya. Officials stated the aircraft passed safety checks prior to its departure. On 21 February 2007, the plane bent on...
, which between them have resulted in large-scale transport safety reforms in Indonesia, as well as the United States downgrading its safety rating of Indonesian aviation, and of the entire Indonesian fleet being added to the list of air carriers banned in the EU. Adam Air was subsequently banned from flying by the Indonesian government, and would later declare bankruptcy.
Aircraft
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
-4Q8, registration PK-KKW, was manufactured in 1990. Prior to service with Adam Air, the plane had flown for seven other airlines: Dan-Air
Dan-Air
Dan-Air was a leading private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline based in the United Kingdom....
, British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
, GB Airways
GB Airways
GB Airways was a UK airline; prior to its dissolution it was headquartered in "The Beehive," a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. It operated scheduled services as a British Airways franchise to 30 destinations in Europe and...
, National Jets Italy, WFBN, Air One
Air One
Air One "Smart Carrier" is Alitalia's LCC subsidiary based in Milan Malpensa Airport and headquartered in Fiumicino, Italy. Before the merger with Alitalia, Air One was a competitor, the second largest airline in Italy, with a high-frequency scheduled network to 36 destinations in Italy, Europe and...
, and Jat Airways
Jat Airways
Jat Airways is the national airline of Serbia and the former national airline of Yugoslavia, and has its head office in the Jat Airways Business Center in Belgrade. It was established in 1927 as Aeroput, making it currently one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation...
, carrying four different registration numbers, including PK-KKW. The plane had 45,371 flying hours and was last evaluated and declared airworthy by the Indonesian transport ministry on 25 December 2005. It was due to be checked again in late January 2007. The Surabaya airport duty manager said that there were no technical problems with the aircraft prior to departure.
- Model: Boeing 737-4Q8Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
- Registration:
- MSN/CN: 24070
- Previous Registrations: YU-AOO, EI-CXH, N112TR, G-BNNL
- Engine: CFM InternationalCFM InternationalCFM International is a joint venture between GE Aviation, a division of General Electric of the United States and Snecma, a division of Safran of France...
CFM56-3C1CFM International CFM56The CFM International CFM56 series is a family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International , with a thrust range of . CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of SNECMA, France and GE Aviation , USA. Both companies are responsible for producing components and each has its own...
Flight chronology
On 1 January 2007, at 12:55 local timeTime zone
A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
(05:55 UTC), the plane departed from Juanda Airport
Juanda International Airport
Juanda International Airport , is an airport located in Sidoarjo, a small town near Surabaya, East Java. This airport serves Surabaya and surrounding areas. Juanda International Airport is operated by PT Angkasa Pura I. The airport takes its name after Djuanda Kartawidjaja, the last Prime Minister...
, Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
, with 96 passengers (85 adults, 7 children and 4 infants) and six crew on board. The passenger list was composed mainly of Indonesian nationals; the only foreigners were an American family of three. The two-hour flight, scheduled to arrive at Sam Ratulangi Airport
Sam Ratulangi Airport
Sam Ratulangi International Airport , also known as Manado International Airport, is located in North Sulawesi, 13 km northeast of Manado. The airport is named after the Minahasan educator and independence hero Sam Ratulangi...
, Manado
Manado
Manado is the capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Manado is located at the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area. The city has about 405,715 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar...
, at 16:00 local time, was as expected until the plane disappeared from air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
screens at Makassar
Makassar
Makassar, is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably...
, South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia, located on the western southern peninsula of Sulawesi Island. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi province to the north, South East Sulawesi province to the east and West Sulawesi province to the west...
, with the last contact at 14:53 local time (06:53 UTC). The last known beacon
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...
position was detected by a Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
an satellite. The altitude of the plane was shown as 35,000 feet (10,670 m) on the radar screen.
Wind speed
Wind speed, or wind velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric rate.Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aircraft and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications....
at an average of 30 knots (59 km/h) in the area. Although the Juanda Airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura I, had given warnings to the pilot concerning the weather condition, the plane had departed as scheduled. The plane ran into crosswind
Crosswind
A crosswind is any wind that has a perpendicular component to the line or direction of travel. In aviation, a crosswind is the component of wind that is blowing across the runway making landings and take-offs more difficult than if the wind were blowing straight down the runway...
s of more than 70 knots (137 km/h) over the Makassar Strait
Makassar Strait
Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea.The Mahakam River of Borneo empties into the strait....
, west of Sulawesi, where it changed course eastward toward land before losing contact. In his last radio transmission, the pilot reported the crosswinds to be coming from the left, but air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
claimed that the winds should be coming from the right. It is not yet known if this is significant to the accident, but it may indicate navigational error, or an emergency turn-around of the aircraft.
Contrary to early reports, no calls for help
Distress signal
A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination, or making an audible sound, from a distance....
were sent by the aircraft.
False reports of discovery
Initial reports indicated that the plane had been located in the mountainous region of Sulawesi around 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) from PolewaliPolewali
Polewali is the capital of the Polewali Mandar Regency of West Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is best known as a site of the disappearance of the Adam Air Flight 574 occurred on January 1, 2007....
town and that there were 12 survivors. This led to the mobilization of an Indonesian Air Force
Military of Indonesia
The Indonesian National Armed Forces in 2009 comprises approximately 432,129 personnel including the Army , Navy including the Indonesian Marine Corps and the Air Force ....
plane carrying hundreds of search and rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
personnel. However the team found no sign of aircraft wreckage at the reported crash site. On 2 January 2007, the Indonesian transport minister confirmed that the plane had not yet been found and reports to the contrary were based on false rumors from local villagers passed on to local officers. It later turned out that the 12 reported survivors were actually from the MV Senopati Nusantara
MV Senopati Nusantara
The M/s Senopati Nusantara was an Indonesian ferry that sank in a storm on December 30, 2006. The Japanese-made ship was a scheduled passenger line from port of Kumai in Central Kalimantan to Tanjung Emas port in Semarang, East Java. About off Mandalika island, the ship sank during the violent...
, which sank only two days earlier during the same storm.
Continued efforts
A search and rescue team 3,600 members strong was mobilised. One Boeing 737–200Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
Surveiller (a military surveillance plane), two infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
-equipped Fokker-50 aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Air Force
Republic of Singapore Air Force
The Republic of Singapore Air Force is the air arm of the Singapore Armed Forces. It was first established in 1968 as the Singapore Air Defence Command...
, a Navy Nomad
GAF Nomad
The GAF Nomad is a twin-engine turboprop, high-winged, "short take off and landing" aircraft . It was designed and built by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories at Fishermens Bend, Melbourne. Major users of the design have included the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the...
plane and six helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s were amongst many vehicles dispatched to aid searching for the missing plane from the air. Indonesian sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
-equipped military aircraft
Military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...
and ships capable of detecting underwater metallic objects later joined the team, equipped with two mini remote-controlled submarines. These searched the sea for five days between 3 January and 8 January, without success.
Naval ship
Naval ship
A naval ship is a ship used for combat purposes, commonly by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose...
s combed the Makassar Strait while military personnel went through jungles and mountains of Sulawesi. In the face of heavy rain and strong winds in the area, the search efforts, coordinated from Makassar city, were focused in the area between the coastal town of Majene
Majene
Majene is the capital city of Majene County , located in the province of West Sulawesi , Indonesia.- People :...
and the mountainous region of Toraja
Toraja
The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 650,000, of which 450,000 still live in the regency of Tana Toraja . Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk...
. The search in the two areas was due to twin signals, each carrying different emergency locator transmitter
Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon
Distress radio beacons, also known as emergency beacons, ELT or EPIRB, are tracking transmitters which aid in the detection and location of boats, aircraft, and people in distress. Strictly, they are radiobeacons that interface with worldwide offered service of Cospas-Sarsat, the international...
frequencies, received by the Singaporean satellite and an Indonesian military
Military of Indonesia
The Indonesian National Armed Forces in 2009 comprises approximately 432,129 personnel including the Army , Navy including the Indonesian Marine Corps and the Air Force ....
air base. The two separate locations produced on radar screens were a spot on the sea in Majene and on land in Rantepao
Rantepao
Rantepao is a town in Tana Toraja Regency, which is known for the cultural center of Toraja ethnic group. National and regional tourism offices have developed the city as the starting point for visiting Tana Toraja, since the area was opened for tourism in 1970s.Hotels, restaurants and other Toraja...
, Tana Toraja
Tana Toraja
Tana Toraja Regency is a regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, home of Toraja ethnic group people. The local government seat is in Makale, where the center of Toraja culture is in Rantepao...
. Searches were then expanded throughout the Island of Sulawesi; some were triggered by unknown distress signals received by a commercial Lion Air
Lion Air
Not to be confused with the Sri Lankan airline Lionair.PT Lion Mentari Airlines, operating as Lion Air, is Indonesia’s largest private carrier and Asia’s first hybrid carrier which offers both economy and business-class seating, based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Lion Air also flies to Singapore,...
flight and an airport. A police officer at the Barru district police operational centre said that all the districts with stretches of coastline along the Makasser Strait had teams searching for the plane.
There were fears that the plane's tracking equipment and emergency locator beacon could have been damaged after the crash or weakened by interference, and that this would hamper the search. The head of the National Search and Rescue Agency told the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
that he believed the aircraft was probably lost at sea. From 5 January 2007, the main focus of the search was relocated to areas south of Manado, after Manado's Sam Ratulangi Airport
Sam Ratulangi Airport
Sam Ratulangi International Airport , also known as Manado International Airport, is located in North Sulawesi, 13 km northeast of Manado. The airport is named after the Minahasan educator and independence hero Sam Ratulangi...
reported detecting a signal from the plane a day before. However, the rugged terrain coupled with thick and low hanging clouds continued to hamper the search efforts, and three relatives of missing passengers who overflew part of the area on a military reconnaissance plane admitted that the chances of finding the plane were slim. Officials said that it was unlikely any bodies have survived in one piece. On 14 January, at Indonesia's request, Singapore sent four towed underwater locator beacon
Underwater locator beacon
An underwater locator beacon or underwater acoustic beacon is a device fitted to aviation flight recorders such as the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. ULBs are also sometimes required to be attached directly to an aircraft fuselage...
detectors, sometimes called Towed Pinger Locators, and six consultants in their use to aid in the search. These would successfully locate the black boxes. On 24 January, the British ship MN Endeavour joined the search. The ship is operated by local mining firm PT Gema Tera Mustikawati and is usually used by oil and gas drilling companies to map the seabed. By 24 January, the Indonesian government had spent an average of Rp 1 billion (about U.S.$110,000) a day on the search.
On 10 February, search operations were officially halted by the Search and Rescue Agency, according to Transportation Minister Hatta Rajasa, finalizing the legal status of both the plane and its passengers and crew. This announcement allowed the families of the victims to start the insurance claims process.
Discovery of wreckage
Unidentified submerged objects
On Monday, 8 January, three large metal objects, suspected to be wreckage, were detected by the Indonesian ship KRI FatahillahKRI Fatahillah
KRI Fatahillah is an Indonesian Navy ship named after Fatahillah, a national war heroic figure who successfully captured back Sunda Kelapa from the hands of the Portuguese and consequently changed its name to Jayakarta...
's sonar. First Admiral Gatot Subyanto of the Indonesian Navy indicated three locations, between 3–6 km (2–4 miles) apart, off Mamuju city on Sulawesi's western coast. Due to limitations of the navy's sonar equipment, it was not clear what the metal was, and Indonesia had no other equipment of its own. A U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
ship, USNS Mary Sears, arrived in the area on 9 January with better equipment to help identify the objects, and on the same date a Canadian jet with five separate air crews, working in shifts, was sent to aid with aerial mapping of the suspected location. The Indonesian Marine and Fishery Department has since suggested that the metal objects could instead be instruments deployed to study the underwater sea current. A total of twelve Indonesian Navy ships were deployed in the area, including the KRI Ajak
KRI Ajak
The KRI Ajak is an Indonesian naval vessel of the PB 57 Mk II ASW patrol boats.-Notable deployments:The Ajak was deployed to help look for the missing Adam Air Flight 574....
, KRI Leuser
KRI Leuser
The KRI Leuser is an Indonesian naval vessel of the Rakata class fleet tugs. "Leuser" name derived from Mount Leuser with its Leuser Ecosystem, the tellest mountain in Aceh province.-Notable deployments:...
and KRI Nala
KRI Nala
-Notable deployments:The Nala was deployed to help look for the missing Adam Air Flight 574....
. Extra underwater equipment, including a metal detector and an undersea camera, was sent from the U.S., and arrived aboard the USNS Mary Sears on 17 January. The black boxes were subsequently located elsewhere, in the waters in an area known as Majene
Majene
Majene is the capital city of Majene County , located in the province of West Sulawesi , Indonesia.- People :...
, and a wide, sweeping search of the area revealed high amounts of scattered debris there, too. This debris was analyzed to confirm it belongs to the 737.
Floating debris
The aircraft's right horizontal stabilizerTailplane
A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer , is a small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes...
was found by a fisherman, south of Pare Pare, about 300 metres (984 ft) off the beach on 11 January, although it was not originally handed in as its discoverer thought it to be a piece of plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
, only later realizing it was a piece of the tail. This was confirmed by the serial number on the stabilizer, 65 C 25746 76, which matches that of components on the missing 737. The fisherman received a reward of 50 million rupiah (equivalent to about $5,500) for his discovery. Later, other parts of the aircraft, including passenger seats, life jackets, a food tray, part of an aircraft tire, eight pieces of aluminum and fiber, an ID card, a flare and a headrest have also been recovered from the area. By 13 January, a piece of a wing was also recovered. It is unclear whether the 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long section is a section of the right wing or the left wing, although it was examined in an attempt to discover this. The total count of recovered objects associated with aircraft, as of 29 January, was 206, of which 194 were definitely from the 737. On 15 January, an unidentified fuel spill was spotted by the Singaporean reconnaissance aircraft along the western coast of Sulawesi, but by the time a ship arrived to attempt to determine whether the spill came from the aircraft it had been moved by strong currents. Although it was searched for, it was not relocated. Pieces of clothing thought to belong to passengers were also recovered, and on 15 January, pieces of human hair and what is thought to be human scalp were recovered from a headrest that had been pulled from the sea. They were DNA tested to attempt to identify them; the results of this test are, however, unknown.
Black boxes
On 21 January, the flight data recorderFlight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
(FDR) and cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
(CVR), colloquially called black boxes
Black Box (transportation)
The term black box is a placeholder name used casually to refer to a collection of several different recording devices used in transportation: the flight recorders in aircraft, the event recorder in railway locomotives, the event data recorder in automobiles, message case in ships, and other...
, were located off the coast of West Sulawesi
West Sulawesi
West Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia, which was created in 2004.- Geography :It is on the island of Sulawesi and includes the regencies of Polewali Mandar, Mamasa, Majene, Mamuju, and Mamuju Utara, which were formerly part of South Sulawesi...
by the U.S. vessel Mary Sears
USNS Mary Sears (T-AGS-65)
USNS Mary Sears is a Pathfinder class oceanographic survey ship. It is the sixth ship of its class. Mary Sears is named after Commander Mary Sears of the United States Naval Reserve, who was instrumental in the development of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and is regarded as one of the...
. The flight data recorder was located at 03°41′02"S 118°08′53"E at a depth of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), while the cockpit voice recorder was located at 03°40′22"S 118°09′16"E at a depth of 1,900 metres (6,200 ft). These positions indicate the black boxes are located approximately 1.4 km (0.869921831309729 mi) apart. The Indonesian vessel Fatahillah travelled to the location, while Mary Sears traveled to Singapore, arriving on 29 January to return the detector equipment used to locate the devices. It did not travel immediately to Singapore because it was mapping the immediate area. The Mary Sears used its side scan sonar (SSS) unit to map an area of approximately 10.3 km² (3 sq nmi) around the recorders in high resolution, an operation which required 18 passes across the area at approximately 3 knots (6 km/h), taking six hours per pass including lining up for the next pass. It discovered a large amount of wreckage in the area, which is now considered to be all that remains of the aircraft. A senior Indonesian marine official said on January 24 that he did not believe the equipment which is necessary to retrieve the boxes from that depth is available in any Asian country. The black boxes had a battery life of just 30 days, and were subsequently unable to emit locator signals.
On 3 February, Indonesian Naval
Military of Indonesia
The Indonesian National Armed Forces in 2009 comprises approximately 432,129 personnel including the Army , Navy including the Indonesian Marine Corps and the Air Force ....
vessel KRI Tanjung Dalpele
KRI Tanjung Dalpele
The KRI Tanjung Dalpele is an Indonesian warship of the Tanjung Dalpele class. The contract for the USD $35 million ship was signed with Daewoo International in September 2003. The ship is a Landing Platform Dock designed and built by Daesun Shipbuilding and Eng.Co.Ltd Pusan...
took affected families out to the crash site where a memorial service was held, which included throwing flowers into the sea.
Salvage
On 26 January, a dispute arose between Adam Air and the Indonesian government regarding the retrieval of the black boxes. Due to the depth involved, recovery required an underwaterUnderwater
Underwater is a term describing the realm below the surface of water where the water exists in a natural feature such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, or river. Three quarters of the planet Earth is covered by water...
remotely operated vehicle
Remotely operated vehicle
A remotely operated vehicle is a tethered underwater vehicle. They are common in deepwater industries such as offshore hydrocarbon extraction. An ROV may sometimes be called a remotely operated underwater vehicle to distinguish it from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the air. ROVs...
, but due to the cost of using this method of recovery—especially since such equipment required to be shipped in from elsewhere—the government placed the responsibility for the cost of recovering the recorders on Adam Air. Vice President of Indonesia
Vice President of Indonesia
The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia is the first in the line of succession in the Republic of Indonesia.-History of the office:The Indonesian Vice Presidency was established during the formulation of the 1945 constitution by the Researching Body for the Preparation of the Indonesian...
Jusuf Kalla
Jusuf Kalla
is an Indonesian politician who was the 10th Vice President of Indonesia from 2004 to 2009 and Chairman of the Golkar Party during the same period. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2009 presidential election.-Early life:...
went as far as to question the need to retrieve the black boxes at all, although experts said in response that the accident was of international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
significance
Significance
Significance can refer to:with purpose and importance* Meaning** In semiotics, the meaning assigned to a sign* Significant figures or significant digits, the precision of a numerical value* Significance , a stock issue in policy debate...
as it could indicate a fault with the aircraft. Adam Air said that in its opinion, the black boxes should be recovered, describing the accident as being relevant on both national and international levels, but refused to pay, saying that was the responsibility of the government. Indonesia did request technical assistance from the United States, Japan and France. Jim Hall, a former chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
, said that it was essential the boxes were recovered quickly, as at that point their 30-day battery life was about to expire, which it subsequently did. He cited problems such as poor visibility and strong currents making it difficult to recover the devices without the signal. Setio Rahardjo, Head of National Committee for Transportation Safety, estimated that equipment for the salvage operation, if available, would cost $100,000 per day to hire in an operation that would take around ten days, equating to U.S.$1 million.
On 31 January it was reported that the U.S. had to withdraw the vessel Mary Sears from the searches, the U.S. military saying that the vessel had other duties. Further funding and help from the U.S. would have to be approved by the Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. At the same time external companies were suggested as possible retrievers of the black boxes. Indonesia continued to seek help from other countries, like France and Japan. Setio Rahardjo maintained that Adam Air
Adam Air
Adam Air was a privately owned airline based in West Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. It operated scheduled domestic services to over 20 cities and international services to Penang and Singapore...
should be charged with the retrieval costs.
It was originally confirmed that Indonesia would not pay for the salvage operation, neither could they force Adam Air to. On 15 February, it was reported that Adam Air had been in contact with two salvage companies, Smit Internationale and Phoenix International
Phoenix International Holdings
Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. is an employee owned marine services company that performs complex manned and unmanned underwater operations worldwide. Phoenix was incorporated in 1996 as Phoenix Marine, Inc. and started doing business in 1997. It changed its name in January 2000 to Phoenix...
, regarding the salvage operation. It was Phoenix who supplied the Mary Sears with the necessary equipment for the search operation. Adam Air received preliminary invoices and continued negotiations with the two companies. However, Adam Air announced that they did indeed intend to select a company to conduct the operation shortly and would pay for this themselves.
On 28 May, Adam Air announced they had signed a contract with Phoenix International, with original plans being for the recovery to occur in June, according to Aero News. On 23 August, the Eas arrived in Sulawesi's Makassar port to begin salvage operations, which began with several days survey. The vessel was carrying a mini submarine that can dive up to 6,000 metres (20,000 ft), and was equipped with sonar and deep sea cameras.
A Phoenix International underwater robot scouring the sea off Majene for on Sulawesi finally retrieved the Flight Data Recorder on 27 August and Cockpit Voice Recorder on 28 August. The two devices were found at a depth of around 2,000 metres (6,500 ft) and were 1400 metres (4,593.2 ft) apart. They had been moved 10 – from their original locations by powerful underwater currents. The black boxes were sent to Washington for analysis, there was fear that the recovery efforts could fail due to data destruction caused by the long submersion. The final cost of the salvage operation to retrieve the black boxes was US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3 million, of which two million was contributed by the Indonesian government, with Adam Air paying for the rest. Efforts continued with the hope of recovering various large pieces of wreckage from the seabed.
Investigation
PresidentPresident of Indonesia
The President of the Republic of Indonesia is the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia.The first president was Sukarno and the current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.- Sukarno era :...
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono AC , is an Indonesian politician and retired Army general officer who has been President of Indonesia since 2004....
ordered a full investigation to discover the cause of the aircraft's disappearance, including the cause of any accident it may have had, before the main debris field had even been found. The investigation also looked at the airworthiness of the plane and standard procedure on airplane operations. A team from the United States with representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
, the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
, Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
and General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
were sent to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
to assist the Indonesian National Committee for Transportation in the investigation. Patrick Smith, a U.S.-based airline pilot and aviation commentator, has said that "Whatever happened to the plane, it was likely rapid and catastrophic," and said that an on-board explosion or metal fatigue
Metal Fatigue
Metal Fatigue , is a futuristic science fiction, real-time strategy computer game developed by Zono Incorporated and published by Psygnosis and TalonSoft .-Plot:...
-induced structural failure were the most likely causes of the accident. There will also be a wider investigation into Indonesia's transport system as a whole. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing a low-flying, unstable aircraft in the area that the wreckage has been recovered from, but lost sight of it after hearing a loud bang. The chief of the Indonesian Plane Technicians group, Wahyu Supriantono, said that the plane was unlikely to have suffered an in-flight break up or explosion as the debris field would have been larger, and as a result, wreckage would have been discovered earlier. The Indonesian KNKT, responsible for the investigation, said that even if the flight recorders are not retrieved they still intended to publish a final report complete with a probable cause, saying they had other "facts and findings" that provide enough information to do so.
On 25 March 2008, the inquiry ruled that pilot error and a faulty navigation device downed the airliner. While cruising at 35,000 feet (10,668 m), the pilots became preoccupied with troubleshooting the aircraft's two inertial reference systems (IRS), part of the navigation system. The autopilot became disengaged and the pilots failed to correct for a slow right roll even after a "bank angle" alarm sounded. Despite the bank angle reaching 100° with almost 60° nose down attitude, the pilots did not level the wings before trying to regain pitch control. The aircraft reached 490 knots (960.3 km/h) at the end of the recording, in excess of the aircraft's maximum rated speed for a dive (400 knots). The aircraft experienced a structural failure 20 seconds prior to the ending of the recording, at which time the investigators concluded the aircraft was in a "critically unrecoverable state".
Maintenance concerns
Investigators quickly became concerned about apparent poor maintenance and believe it may have played an important factor in the accident.Adam Air as a whole
The safety record of Adam Air has been heavily criticized. Adam Air has reportedly bribed pilots to fly planes they knew were unsafe. Pilots have reported repeated and deliberate breaches of international safety regulations, and aircraft being flown in non-airworthy states for months at a time. They claim that there have been such incidents as requests to sign documents to allow an aircraft to fly, while not having the authority to, and while knowing the plane to be unairworthy, flying a plane for several months with a damaged door handle, swapping parts between aircraft to avoid mandatory replacement deadlines, being ordered to fly aircraft after exceeding the take-off limit of five times per pilot per day, flying an aircraft with a damaged window, using spare parts from other aircraft to keep planes in the air and ignorance of pilot's requests not to take off due to unsafe aircraft. The Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
quoted one pilot as saying that "Every time you flew, you had to fight with the ground staff and the management about all the regulations you had to violate." They also claimed that if pilots confronted their seniors in the airline, they were grounded or docked pay.
Specific aircraft
Investigators discovered that the aircraft was the subject of a large number of complaints by pilots, called write-ups in the aviation industry. The highest number of complaints concerned the captain's side vertical speed indicator, which informs the air crew of the rate (in ft/min: Feet Per Minute) at which the airplane is ascending or descending. A total of 48 complaints were made regarding the instrument in the three months before the crash. The aircraft's left right inertial reference system, which informs pilots what direction the aircraft is turning in, was complained about a total of thirty times. The International Herald TribuneInternational Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
reported that this may be of particular significance. The third most-complained about instrument was a fuel differential light, which received fifteen write-ups. Numerous complaints were also received about inoperative cockpit instrument lights, as well as multiple other malfunctions. Most notably, several complaints were made that the flaps
Flap (aircraft)
Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
, which modify drag and lift during take-off and landing, were jamming at twenty-five degrees upon landing, and two complaints that the weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
was faulty.
Legal action
Adam Air is being sued by Indonesian consumer and labor groups over the accident, for a total of one trillion rupiahs (US$100 million), to be paid to the families of the victims. According to a lawyer for the families, speaking in a press conference along with the secretary for the Adam Air KI-574 Passengers' Families Association, formed in the aftermath of the disaster, 30 of the victims' families intend to sue Boeing over the accident instead of Adam Air. However, this does not necessarily mean that all of the others will sue Adam Air, as they may not necessarily exercise their right to sue at all. Representatives of the families have explained that they believe the plane was brought down by a faulty rudder control valve, similarly to the accidents involving United Airlines Flight 585United Airlines Flight 585
United Airlines Flight 585 was a scheduled domestic passenger airline flight from the now-decommissioned Stapleton International Airport in Denver to Colorado Springs Municipal Airport in Colorado Springs, Colorado....
and USAir Flight 427
USAir Flight 427
US Air Flight 427 was a scheduled flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Pittsburgh, with a final destination of West Palm Beach, Florida...
, which went down in the early 1990s. They have explained that, as a result, they are suing Boeing and Parker Hannifin
Parker Hannifin
Parker Hannifin Corporation , originally Parker Appliance Company, usually referred to as just Parker, of Mayfield Heights, Ohio , is the global leader in motion and control technologies. The company was founded in 1918, and has been publicly traded on the NYSE since December 9, 1964...
, the valve's manufacturer, although airlines using the 737 have been warned about problems with the rudder control valves.
Political
Vice President Jusuf KallaJusuf Kalla
is an Indonesian politician who was the 10th Vice President of Indonesia from 2004 to 2009 and Chairman of the Golkar Party during the same period. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2009 presidential election.-Early life:...
described the disappearance as an "international issue." A few days after the disappearance, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono AC , is an Indonesian politician and retired Army general officer who has been President of Indonesia since 2004....
set up the National Team for Transportation Safety and Security
National Team for Transportation Safety and Security
The National Team for Transportation Safety and Security was set up a few days after the disappearance of Adam Air Flight 574 on January 1, 2007, by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, partially as a response to the high number of recent transportational accidents in Indonesia, and partially as a...
, partially as a response to the high number of recent transportation accidents in Indonesia, and partially as a direct response to the event. The team was tasked to evaluate thoroughly the transport safety procedures and review the existing regulations on transportation. It was not, however, to investigate accidents; the entity deemed responsible for this was the Komisi Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT), or in English the National Transportation Safety Commission (NTSC), which is part of Departemen Perhubungan (Ministry of Transportation).
Adam Air
Adam Air has been accused by multiple organizations of poor maintenance and of ordering pilots to fly in all weather and regardless of aircraft conditions. Adam Adhitya Suherman, founder of the family-run airline, has personally denied these accusations, and has said that maintenance consumes "up 40 percent of our total operational costs".Despite this denial of any responsibility for the crash, Adam Air has compensated the families of deceased passengers Rp 500 million (equivalent to about US$55,000 or €42,000) per passenger. It also compensated families of the flight crew.
There has been some call from relatives of the deceased for Adam Air to build a memorial to the victims in Makassar
Makassar
Makassar, is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably...
, South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia, located on the western southern peninsula of Sulawesi Island. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi province to the north, South East Sulawesi province to the east and West Sulawesi province to the west...
. Adam Air said that if an agreement could be reached then they would fulfil the request.
Aftermath
The Indonesian government announced plans immediately after the accident to ban jets over ten years of age for any commercial purpose. The age limit was previously 35 years or 70,000 landings. Although this was in response to a large number of aircraft accidents, it was mainly in response to this accident and the Flight 172Adam Air Flight 172
Adam Air Flight 172 was a serious incident involving a Boeing 737-300, registered PK-KKV, flying on a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Indonesia between Jakarta and Surabaya. Officials stated the aircraft passed safety checks prior to its departure. On 21 February 2007, the plane bent on...
incident. Indonesia also announced that the Transportation Ministry would be reshuffled in response to this accident, Flight 172
Adam Air Flight 172
Adam Air Flight 172 was a serious incident involving a Boeing 737-300, registered PK-KKV, flying on a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Indonesia between Jakarta and Surabaya. Officials stated the aircraft passed safety checks prior to its departure. On 21 February 2007, the plane bent on...
and the loss of the ferries MV Senopati Nusantara
MV Senopati Nusantara
The M/s Senopati Nusantara was an Indonesian ferry that sank in a storm on December 30, 2006. The Japanese-made ship was a scheduled passenger line from port of Kumai in Central Kalimantan to Tanjung Emas port in Semarang, East Java. About off Mandalika island, the ship sank during the violent...
and Levina 1
Levina 1
The Levina 1 was an Indonesian passenger ferry. On February 22, 2007, it caught fire, killing at least 51 people. Three days later, on February 25, it sank with a group of members of the media and investigators on board, killing at least one more and leaving three missing.-Background:The Levina 1...
. Among those replaced were the directors of air and sea transports and the chairman of the National Committee for Transportation Safety. Indonesia also introduced a new system of ranking airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
s according to their safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
record, with a level one ranking meaning the airline has no serious issues, a level two ranking meaning the airline must fix problems, and a level three rating forcing the airline to be shut down.
On 16 March 2007, the Indonesian government announced plans to shut down an unspecified Indonesian air carrier. It was announced on 22 March that Adam Air was one of seven airlines that will have their licenses revoked within three months unless they could improve their safety standards. The other six airlines involved were Batavia Air
Batavia Air
Batavia Air is an airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It operates domestic flights to around 30 destinations and international services to Singapore, China and Malaysia. Its main base is Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta...
, Jatayu Airlines
Jatayu Airlines
Jatayu Airlines was an airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It operated domestic and international services from Jakarta and was established in 2000. Its main base was Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta...
, Kartika Airlines
Kartika Airlines
Kartika Airlines is an airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It operates domestic services from Jakarta. Its main base is Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta. Kartika Airlines is listed in category 2 by Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority for airline safety quality.- History :The airline...
, Manunggal Air Services, Transwisata Prima Aviation
Transwisata Prima Aviation
Transwisata Prima Aviation is an airline based in Indonesia. It operates charter services. Transwisata Prima Aviation is listed in category 2 by Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority for airline safety quality.-History:...
and Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines
Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines
Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines is an airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The company bought the Let L-410 aircraft because Tri MG is expanding into passenger operations. They operate their Boeing 727 on a regular schedule to Singapore Changi Airport....
. The airlines were all targeted as a direct result of the crash, as they were in the third level of the ranking system introduced as a result. All 54 of Indonesia's airlines, including state-owned Garuda Indonesia
Garuda Indonesia
PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk , publicly known as Garuda Indonesia, is the flag carrier of Indonesia. It is named after the mystical giant bird Garuda of Hinduism and Buddhist mythology. It is headquartered at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, near Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia...
, were told they would need to make some improvements, with none of them receiving a level one ranking.
It was reported on 28 June 2007, that Adam Air would escape closure and has been upgraded one rank in safety rating, to the middle tier. The airlines that have lost their licenses are Jatayu Gelang Sejahtera, Aviasi Upataraksa, Alfa Trans Dirgantara and Prodexim and the airlines that have been grounded pending improvements and facing potential licence revocation are Germania Trisila Air, Atlas Delta Setia, Survey Udara Penas, Kura-kura Aviation and SMAC
SMAC
SMAC may refer to:*Sabang Merauke Raya Air Charter, an Indonesian airline*Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission - art council in California, USA.*Second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases, a component of the apoptosis pathway...
.
On 16 April 2007, the American Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
responded to the results of the new airline survey by downgrading Indonesia's air safety oversight category from a 1 to a 2 because of "serious concerns" over safety. This means it views Indonesia's civil aviation authority as failing to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards. As a direct result, the U.S. Embassy
American diplomatic missions
This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United States.-History:Morocco, in December 1777, became the first nation to recognize the United States and together they maintain the United States' longest unbroken treaty.Benjamin Franklin established the first overseas mission of the United States...
in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
issued a warning to all American citizens flying in or out of Indonesia to avoid using Indonesian airlines, and instead use international carriers with better safety reputations. This was followed on 28 June 2007 by the addition of all Indonesia's airlines, none of which flew to Europe at the time, to the List of air carriers banned in the EU. Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, Director-general of civil aviation at the Indonesian transport ministry, responded by saying that he felt Indonesia had made the improvements required by the EU.
Adam Air ceased operation on 18 March 2008 after its Air Operator's Certificate was suspended by the Indonesian government, and was officially suspended permanently on 18 June 2008.
Flight 172
On 21 February 2007, just 51 days after the loss of Flight 574, Flight 172Adam Air Flight 172
Adam Air Flight 172 was a serious incident involving a Boeing 737-300, registered PK-KKV, flying on a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Indonesia between Jakarta and Surabaya. Officials stated the aircraft passed safety checks prior to its departure. On 21 February 2007, the plane bent on...
, an Adam Air Boeing 737–300
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
aircraft (registration PK-KKV) flying from Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
to Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
had a hard landing at Juanda International Airport
Juanda International Airport
Juanda International Airport , is an airport located in Sidoarjo, a small town near Surabaya, East Java. This airport serves Surabaya and surrounding areas. Juanda International Airport is operated by PT Angkasa Pura I. The airport takes its name after Djuanda Kartawidjaja, the last Prime Minister...
. The incident caused the fuselage of the plane to crack and bend in the middle, with the tail of the plane drooping towards the ground. There were no reports of serious injuries from the incident. As a result, six Adam Air 737s were grounded awaiting safety checks. Adam Air described this as "harsh punishment" for an accident it blamed on poor weather conditions, but Vice President
Vice President of Indonesia
The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia is the first in the line of succession in the Republic of Indonesia.-History of the office:The Indonesian Vice Presidency was established during the formulation of the 1945 constitution by the Researching Body for the Preparation of the Indonesian...
Jusuf Kalla
Jusuf Kalla
is an Indonesian politician who was the 10th Vice President of Indonesia from 2004 to 2009 and Chairman of the Golkar Party during the same period. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2009 presidential election.-Early life:...
had said that all Boeing 737-300s should be checked.
Alleged Cockpit Voice Recording Leakage
In early August 2008, a five-minute-38-second digital recording allegedly retrieved from the plane's cockpit voice recorderCockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
was widely circulated on the Internet and transcribed by the media. The recording, which had been publicly distributed through chain e-mails, begins with what is believed by some to be a conversation between pilot Refi Agustian Widodo and copilot Yoga Susanto before the crash. Approximately two minutes before the end of the recording the autopilot disconnect horn sounded, followed approximately a minute later with "bank angle" warnings from the GPWS and the altitude alerter. Immediately thereafter, as the airplane began its final dive, the shotgun-like sounds of engine compressor surges and the overspeed "clacker" could be heard along with two background voices screaming in terror, and shouting out the name of God. Towards the end of the recording there is a dramatic increase in windshield noise and two loud bangs (the second larger than the first) consistent with structural failure of the airplane, followed 20 seconds later by an abrupt silence. Likely, when the pilots regained visual ground contact, they quickly pulled up, overloading the horizontal stabilizer downwards and a main wing spar upwards. It was dismissed by the officials who said that it was not authentic and was not the original recording.
Dramatization
The crash was the subject of a Season 7 Episode of Mayday (also known as Air Crash Investigation) entitled 'Flight 574: Lost' (also aired as The Plane That Vanished in some countries).See also
- Adam Air Flight 172Adam Air Flight 172Adam Air Flight 172 was a serious incident involving a Boeing 737-300, registered PK-KKV, flying on a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Indonesia between Jakarta and Surabaya. Officials stated the aircraft passed safety checks prior to its departure. On 21 February 2007, the plane bent on...
- Air safetyAir safetyAir safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.-United...
- Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1 jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades on the night of December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities...
which crashed to the swamp in EvergladesEvergladesThe Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
in almost same circumtances. - List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft
- MV Senopati NusantaraMV Senopati NusantaraThe M/s Senopati Nusantara was an Indonesian ferry that sank in a storm on December 30, 2006. The Japanese-made ship was a scheduled passenger line from port of Kumai in Central Kalimantan to Tanjung Emas port in Semarang, East Java. About off Mandalika island, the ship sank during the violent...
which sank during the same storm. - Air France Flight 447Air France Flight 447Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled airline flight from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão to Paris-Roissy involving an Airbus A330-200 aircraft that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009, killing all 216 passengers and 12 aircrew. The investigation is still ongoing, and the cause of the...
- Yemenia Flight 626Yemenia Flight 626Yemenia Flight 626 was an Airbus A310-324 twin-engine jet airliner, operated by Yemenia, operating as a scheduled international flight from Sana'a, Yemen, to Moroni, Comoros, that crashed on 30 June 2009 at around 1:50 a.m. local time while on approach to Prince Said Ibrahim International...
, which crashed into Indian OceanIndian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
External links
- National Transportation Safety CommitteeNational Transportation Safety CommitteeThe National Transportation Safety Committee is an Indonesian government agency charged with the investigation of air, land, rail, and marine transportation safety deficiencies. It has its headquarters in Jakarta....
- The plane's passenger list (excluding the air crew but including the technician)
- History of the missing plane
- News link with photograph of a piece of recovered wreckage
- CNN.com alternate map of the planned route
- January 15 news conference article, with picture of more of the recovered debris
- The fateful final minutes of the allegedly false cockpit voice recording, including screams
- The official accident investigation report by Indonesia NTSC
