New report gives bleak view of air safety

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Confirming what the public has long suspected, a government-sanctioned fact-finding team has announced that safety standards in the airline industry have been gravely compromised.

The National Team for the Evaluation of Transportation Safety and Security said the government, airline industry and airport operators were all culpable for violating safety regulations, resulting in a string of air disasters.

"Facts that we collected in the field confirm what the public has long believed, that safety in the air transportation industry is at its lowest point," team spokesman Oetarjo Diran said at a press conference Monday.

Members of the team met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to present their review of the state of the air transportation industry. The team was formed in early January, following the crash on New Year's Day of a Boeing 737-400 operated by Adam Air.

Over the past two months, the team has collected data from the Transportation Ministry, state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura and airlines, and interviewed 42 individuals.

In its survey, the team discovered regulation oversights in almost every quarter of the industry.

"We have weak regulations, outdated technology and poorly trained human resources," Oetarjo said.

The team also said unethical conduct bordering on the criminal was common at airlines.

"Some of these infractions could be considered crimes, but we had trouble collecting the evidence to corroborate our accusations," Oetarjo said.

The team attributed the lax security standards to the deregulation of the airline industry in the late 1990s, when private investors were given the right to operate airlines without sufficient funds or expertise.

Yudhoyono asked the team to draw up a concrete plan of action to help the industry achieve zero-accident status within the next three years.

The team is expected to present its recommendations early next week.

In response to the report, Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa said the first step for the government would be to improve the infrastructure of the aviation industry.

He said the government would initiate projects such as the extension of runways at some of the country's international airports.

Hatta said one of the first runways to be extended would be the one at Adi Sucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, where a Garuda Boeing 737-400 crash-landed Wednesday, killing 21 people.

The government, through PT Angkasa Pura, is also expected to procure new radars for a number of airports.

"You know, our radar at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport frequently breaks down. It was first installed in 1985 and we need to refurbish it," Hatta told reporters.