Analyst: 'Indonesia has a poor air safety
record'
AirAsia had a flawless safety record before its Flight
8501 went missing. But aviation expert Chris Yates tells DW the same cannot be
said about many other Indonesian carriers that are plagued by safety
issues.
Two Indonesian air hostess stand next to a Boeing 737-900 plane of
the new Indonesian airline Batik Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air is parked at the
Soekarno-Hatta airport during the launching ceremony in Tangerang in the
outskirt of Jakarta on April 25, 2013
AirAsia's Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control on early
Sunday, December 28, just after the pilots requested a change in course to avoid
bad weather. On board the Airbus A320-200, traveling from Indonesia's Surabaya
to Singapore, were 162 people - 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans and one
each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain, plus a French pilot.
Regarded as
one of the pioneers of discount air travel in Asia, the Indonesian airline had
had no fatal accident since it started flying in 2002. But the same doesn't
apply to many other Indonesia-based airlines.
The Aviation Safety
Network, an independent initiative which covers accidents and safety issues with
regard to airliners, military transport planes and corporate jets, lists more
than 50 safety incidents over the past ten years involving carriers in
Indonesia, some of which ended fatally.
With the exception of Garuda
Airlines, Mandala Airlines (not currently operating), Airfast and Ekspres
Transportasi Antarbenua (operating as PremiAir) and Air Asia, all other
Indonesian passenger airlines are currently banned from flying in the European
Union because of safety concerns.
The US State Department encourages US
citizens traveling to and from Indonesia "to fly directly to their destinations
on international carriers from countries whose civil aviation authorities meet
international aviation safety standards for the oversight of their air carrier
operations under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA)
program."
UK-based independent aviation expert Chris Yates says in a DW
interview that Indonesian airlines have had nine safety incidents in 2014 alone.
He adds that although the disappearance of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 is probably
linked to bad weather conditions, the incident will certainly put the country's
air safety issues back in the spotlight.
DW: What can you tell us about
AirAsia's safety record?
Chris Yates: Since its inception in 2001, AirAsia
has had a clean bill of health. The airline has had what some would say a
meteoric rise to dominance within the markets it serves and entirely without
incident until yesterday. Previously, the airline operated a mixed fleet,
including the Boeing 737, but nowadays operates only the Airbus A320 series
aircraft. It does so because of the economic benefits standardization on a type
brings with it.
Indonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla (L) monitors
progress in the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 during a visit to the National
Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta December 28, 2014 in this picture supplied
by Antara Foto
Yates: ' There have been nine incidents this year alone, though
fortunately with no casualties'
Would you agree with those who argue that the
recent disappearance of the AirAsia jet is only the latest in a series of air
incidents for Indonesia?
It's true to say that Indonesia has a very poor
safety record. There have been nine incidents this year alone, though
fortunately with no casualties. Perhaps the most serious incident of recent
times occured in 2007, when an AdamAir Boeing 737 crashed 85 kilometers (53.1
miles) West off Pambauang, claiming the lives of everyone aboard. Some 102
passengers and crew lost their lives.
With the birth of Indonesian AirAsia,
it had been hoped that the country had turned a corner in terms of its air
safety record, but the recent loss of this Airbus A320 has brought the old
questions flooding back.
Do you see any link between the recent AirAsia jet
disappearance and the Indonesia's air safety record?
At the moment there
is nothing to suggest that these factors are connected in any way. From the
abundance of information already in the public domain, it would seem that the
loss of the AirAsia airliner may well be down to the weather.
The region
within which it was flying is equatorial and therefore subject to dramatic
weather conditions. At the time of this incident, cumulus mimbus cloud was
measured up to 50,000 feet altitude within which storm formations were throwing
out severe gales and torrential rain. The pilot had requested a deviation from
his planned track and a climb to higher altitude, although permission was not
given due to conflicting traffic. He was presumably attempting to discover
smoother air in which to continue the flight to Singapore.
It is my view
that weather conditions alone brought this aircraft out of the sky.
Why do
Indonesian airlines have such problems with safety?
Issues with safety have
many causes including poor maintenance, pilot training, mechanical, and air
traffic control among other things. It is human nature to demand answers when a
tragedy occurs, but they can only be given once an investigation has taken
place.
In the case of Flight QZ8501 we need to find the wreckage, recover
the twin black box recorders and throughly analyze them, before we can get to a
definitive answer. At the moment we simply cannot rule anything out, but in the
end the answer may well lay with the weather.
Do Indonesian airlines face
restrictions because of air safety incidents?
Indonesian carriers have faced
international restrictions in the past. A no-fly ban was placed on Indonesia by
the European Union in 2007 but this was subsequently lifted in 2010 for several
airliners since an audit of safety records found significant
improvement.
What more can the aviation industry do to improve
safety?
An AirAsia Airbus A320 passenger jet lands at Sukarno-Hatta airport
in Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta in this January 30, 2013 file
picture
(Photo: REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni/Files)
Yates: 'It is my view that weather conditions alone brought this
aircraft out of the sky'
The loss of Malaysia Airlines MH370 earlier this
year threw up a whole bunch of questions related to tracking of aircraft and
finally exposed the ACARS communications system relied upon carriers around the
world as no longer being fit for purpose. The goal now is to find an alternative
solution capable of sending voice and data directly to ground in the event of an
airborne emergency.
How can this be achieved?
Numerous companies are
working on this task. One such is Wisscom Aerospace Ltd, based in Oxford,
England. Its SMARTTRACK & CLOUDBOX products are software solutions which may
go someway to filling this void in the communications infrastructure supporting
civil aviation. However, any new technology requires a hard-nosed civil aviation
sector to buy in.
The tragic loss of the AirAsia flight may well provide
the catalyst for some soul searching amongst airline management, and products
such as these will find their way into aircraft cabins before too
long.
Chris Yates is an independent aviation safety consultant based in
the United Kingdom.
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