Captain charged over Garuda crash
A Report in The Sydney Morning Herald says that Indonesian police have charged the Garuda pilot who crashed a Boeing 737 at Yogyakarta airport last year, killing 21 people including five Australians.Captain Marwoto Komar was arrested by police last night, following a 10-hour interrogation.
Police in Yogyakarta have now charged Komar with six manslaughter counts, for which he could face up to seven years’ jail, ABC Radio reported this morning.
Indonesian police were not available for comment, but a lawyer for Komar confirmed he had been taken into custody. Police claimed there was a risk he could flee the country or destroy evidence.
The lawyer who accompanied Komar to Yogyakarta Police Headquarters, Mohammad Assegaf, said charging the pilot would set a “bad precedent” in Indonesia and make other pilots reluctant to fly.
Komar tried to land the 737 at nearly double the safe speed on March 7, 2007. It overshot the runway and burst into flames.
An air safety inquiry report into the accident issued by Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee in November said Komar ignored 15 automatic warnings not to land.
Komar was named as a suspect in the accident after the report was released in November. He was questioned after the accident by police, but yesterday’s interrogation is understood to have been far more intensive.
His co-pilot is understood to have provided evidence against him.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has demanded the accident be thoroughly investigated and those responsible held accountable, a message recently informed by Australian ministers in Jakarta.
Komar’s lawyers claim pilots should not have to face criminal charges for a “mistake”.
One Australian journalist and four officials involved in a visit by the former foreign minister, Alexander Downer, were among the fatalities.
Police authorities said recently that questioning of Komar was aimed at gathering more evidence to help compile a dossier to be submitted to the prosecutor’s office for an indictment.
A Report by The Mole from The Sydney Morning Herald
John Alwyn-Jones
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