Joy flight turns tragic
The crash of a Russian Sukhoi Super Jet 100 in the mountains of Indonesia last week killing all 45 passengers put the spotlight on a common practice called "joy flights."
‘These junkets for potential buyers commonly see passengers join or cancel at the last minute, wreaking havoc to manifest lists. Pilots eager to show off the versatility of their planes often make lightning-fast ascents and buzz famous landmarks," said the AP.
No black box was found so what caused the Sukhoi Superjet 100 to smash into the side of Mount Salak in Indonesia is not yet known. All passengers were killed and the crash sent debris raining down a densely forested slope on the mountain.
The chief pilot was said to have been a veteran. Alexander Yablontsev had logged in10,000 hours in the Sukhoi Superjet and its prototypes.
An investigation by a joint team of Indonesian and Russian experts is expected to take at least a year to find the cause.
There is nothing to suggest the pilot did anything wrong, the AP said.
The crash, however, was seen by air safety experts as cause for continuing concerns about demonstration flights.
Tom Ballantyne, a Sydney-based aviation expert who has gone on many such trips, said:
"The purpose of these flights obviously is to show off the aircraft to potential customers. If they are flying over a landmark, they might circle around it so the passengers can get a better look. They might fly a little lower or show the rate of climb of the aircraft."
That’s not to say they don’t follow the rules, he said, or push the planes beyond what they are capable of doing.
"But there’s definitely a bit of showing off."
The long dormant volcano at Mount Salak has been the scene of seven crashes in the last decade. The most recent was by far the most deadly, though there was a 2008 Indonesian air force accident that killed 18.
One former government minister who now has interests in the aviation industry was invited to be on the flight with his entire family but had to cancel at the last minute.
"Actually, I would have loved it, especially with my son, but it was a 50-minute joy flight, and that was just too long, I had a meeting to get to."
By David Wilkening
David
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