Garuda crash probe told of “panicâ€
JAKARTA – Harrowing stories are emerging this week during the trial of pilot Marwoto Komar, who was at the controls when a Garuda plane crashed in Yogyakarta in March last year.
Rice farmer Sarwandi told of seeing the Boeing 737 hurtling towards the end of the runway before crashing through an airport fence and ploughing into his paddy field, finally stopping just 50 metres away.
The 37-year-old ran towards the exploding wreckage to help.
There he found Australian journalist Cynthia Banham, her back broken and legs badly burned.
“She was mumbling, like in real pain,” Sarwandi said. “I saw her already lying on the rice field, so I dragged her away to a place far from the plane.”
Sarwandi returned another three times to pull away less severely injured passengers, before officials ordered him to move to away.
The Melbourne Age reported evidence that before the crash, the jet was unbalanced and moving “very fast”, and it appeared to be accelerating towards the end of the runway, he said.
Wearing his Garuda uniform, gold epaulettes and winged pilot badge, Captain Komar sat beside his lawyers.
University of Indonesia academic Adrianus Meliala told the court, “The plane hit the runway, but then it went up again. So I thought it wanted to fly again, but then it went down again.
“It happened three times, but the third was the hardest. I was pushed to the front until my face hit the back of the front seat and it broke my nose.
“People were in panic, they started running here and there,” professor Meliala said. “Some people were stepped on. I saw a queue at the left door but almost nobody at the right door.
“When I was in front of the right door I understood why nobody wanted to go from there, it was on fire. But then I decided to jump on the burning wing to slide down to the paddy field because the field has water.”
The paddy field water doused the flames, but Professor Meliala sustained second-degree burns to 70 percent of his body.
Outside the plane, several Garuda crew stood or sat. None offered assistance, he said.
When the fire brigade arrived, it could not cross a fence line and its water spray failed to reach the burning plane, the professor said.
The hearing into the crash, which killed 21 people including five Australians, continues next week.
Key witnesses, including the co-pilot who told Komar to abort the landing, will appear later this month.
Komar potentially faces life imprisonment for deliberately crashing the plane, or a shorter jail term if found guilty of negligent manslaughter.
Pilot groups oppose the case, claiming it is the first time a commercial pilot has faced criminal charges.
Air safety investigators found the plane landed at nearly twice the safe speed, despite at least 15 cockpit alarms.
Source: Melbourne Age
Ian Jarrett
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