Sukhoien i Indonesia

Pilots blamed for Russian jet crash in Indonesia; ignored warnings, cockpit distractions

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Pilot error caused a Russian-made passenger jet to crash into an Indonesia volcano seven months ago during a demonstration flight, killing all 45 people aboard, the National Commission on Safety Transportation announced Tuesday.

Information recovered from the Sukhoi Superjet-100's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder indicated the pilot in command was chatting with a potential buyer in the cockpit just before the plane slammed into dormant Mount Salak on May 9, Commission Chairman Tatang Kurniadi told reporters.

He said that 38 seconds before the crash, instruments inside the cockpit issued a warning saying "pull up, terrain ahead." Later the warning "avoid terrain" was issued six times, but the instruments were turned off because the crew assumed there was a problem with the database, Kurniadi said. He added that a simulation showed that the crash could have been avoided if the crew had responded within 24 seconds of the first warning.