Shoveled: Garuda Boss Fired for Smuggling Harley Davidson Bike and Brompton Bicycles

Jakarta Globe, NUR YASMIN, December 5, 2019

The disassembled parts of a smuggled Harley Davidson Shovelhead are shown 

by customs officials in Jakarta on Thursday. (B1 TV Photo)

Jakarta. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia's president director I Gusti Ngurah Ashkara is soon to be fired for allegedly smuggling a Harley Davidson motorcycle and two Brompton bicycles, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said on Thursday.

The items were smuggled inside Garuda's brand new Airbus A330-900 Neo being delivered from its factory in Toulouse, France, in mid-November.

There were 22 passengers on the plane and four of them were Garuda directors: the president director, better known as Ari Ashkara, technical and services director Iwan Joeniarto, cargo and business development director Mohammas Iqbal and human resources director Heri Akhyar.

"As the SOE Minister, I will dismiss the Garuda president director. We will not stop there; we will look for other people who might have been involved in this case as well," Erick told a press conference in Jakarta.

The used Harley Davidson motorcycle had been disassembled prior to delivery and smuggled as parts. Customs officials found them wrapped in 15 boxes inside the plane's cargo area.

The Brompton bikes and accessories were found in three other boxes.

Erick said an audit by the customs office showed the smuggled items belonged to the president director, despite the baggage claim tags carrying different names.

Ari had instructed his subordinates to find him a classic Harley Davidson Shovelhead from the 1970s.

The used motorcycle was purchased in April 2019 with the help of a Garuda finance manager in Amsterdam.

"It's really sad that this [personal] transaction had to drag down an SOE," Erick said.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhur Binsar Pandjaitan said during a visit to Tongxiang, China, on Thursday that he fully supported Erick's decision.

"[An act like] this will hurt our investment climate," he said.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati meanwhile said smuggling the Harley and the Bromptons had cost the country up to Rp 1.5 billion ($107,000) in unpaid taxes.

"The Harley bike is valued at Rp 800 million and the Brompton bicycles cost Rp 50-60 million each," Sri Mulyani said.

"Everyone should always obey existing regulations," she told reporters.

Dutch state buys stake in Air France-KLM to ‘increase influence’

DutchNews, February 27, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The Dutch state has bought a large minority shareholding in the holding company of Air France-KLM in order to exercise more influence on the company, finance minister Wopke Hoekstra told a news conference on Tuesday evening. 

In total, the Netherlands has bought 12.68% of the company for €680m on the open market, but plans to raise this to 14% – in line with the stake held by the French government. 

The aim, Hoekstra says, is to better guarantee Dutch public interests. ‘The position of Schiphol and KLM are of great importance to the Dutch economy and employment,’ he said. ‘It involves thousands of direct and indirect jobs.’ 

In addition, KLM’s destination network is one reason so many foreign firms decide to relocate to the Netherlands, he said. 

The Dutch move, which apparently was not shared with the French authorities ahead of time, follows a turbulent period for the company. 

Holding chief Ben Smith is known to be keen to see Air France and KLM unify through common aircraft orders, alliances and flight programmes but the plans have caused unease in the Netherlands. 

‘Over the past few years it has become obvious that important decisions about KLM strategy are being taken at a holding level,’ Hoekstra said on Tuesday evening. ‘At the same time, talks about strengthening existing agreements… and the make-up of the board, have been difficult.’ 

KLM also reports better financial results compared to Air France, which has been hit by strikes, even though it is much smaller. 

France 

French economic affairs minister Bruno Le Maire told Les Echoes that the shares had been bought up without prior knowledge of the Air France-KLM board or the French government.

The French government has a 14.3% stake in the holding, which was created in 2003 when the two airlines merged. The Dutch state retains a 5.9% stake in KLM itself. 

‘The big question is, what will you achieve with this,’ aviation economist Eric Pels told broadcaster NOS. ‘It cost a lot of money, you don’t have a majority and you can’t sit in the chief executive’s seat. Operational decisions, the day to day affairs, are not taken together with shareholders.’

Wopke Hoekstra and Bruno Le Maire answer questions . Photo: AP Photo/

Christophe Ena via HH

Related Articles:

France, the Netherlands make up after Air France-KLM share purchase - New
Dutch state increases stake in Air France-KLM to 14%, as questions remain

Fasten your seatbelts and expect severe turbulence! France warns that the Dutch government's purchase of a major stake in Air France-KLM "benefits nobody"https://t.co/ncLzBsAzow pic.twitter.com/fDBBRxGK3z

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 28, 2019

Uber Is ‘Stealing Money’ Through Unregulated Operations, Basuki Says

Jakarta Globe, Deti Mega Purnamasari, Jun 26, 2015

Uber is not welcome in Jakarta unless it sets up a proper office in the country and

 abides by prevailing public transportation regulations, the governor say. (Reuters

Photo/Charles Platiau)

Jakarta. Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said he would have a meeting with representatives from California-based ride-sharing app Uber only if the company promised to set up an office in the country.

“If they had wanted to meet me [to seek permission] from the beginning, then I would have done it. But now, if they wish to have a meeting with me, they must establish a company [here],” Basuki said at City Hall on Friday.

He added that representatives from the parent company, Uber Technologies, had spoken to him in person inquiring why they were banned from operating in the city.

Uber’s Jakarta operations currently run from a rented office space at the Pacific Place mall in the Sudirman Central Business District, South Jakarta.

Basuki claimed that Uber reaped profits of up to 20 percent from its operations in the city but did not pay any tax.

“They are stealing money in my area,” he said.

Shortly after its launch in Jakarta last August, Basuki branded Uber “illegal.”

Last week, the Jakarta Police arrested five drivers using the Uber app after receiving reports from the city’s transportation agency and the Organization of Land Transport Operators, or Organda.

The police said the five drivers would only be questioned as witnesses not as suspects.

The arrests mark the latest in a series of legal and regulatory speedbumps for Uber Technologies, which is already facing multiple lawsuits around the globe for bypassing industry regulations.

Probe of Routes Suspends 61 Permits at Five Indonesian Airlines

To prevent future licensing problems, route clearance and permits will now be processed online

Jakarta Globe, Thresa Sandra, Jan 09, 2015

Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan, sitting, talks with journalists before
releasing results of flight permit violations, at the ministry’s offices in Jakarta
on Jan. 9, 2015. (Antara Photo/Puspa Perwitasari)

Jakarta. The Transportation Ministry on Friday suspended 61 domestic flight routes operated by five Indonesian airlines following a week-long investigation prompted by an alleged permit violation involving the crashed Indonesia AirAsia flight.

The ministry earlier banned Indonesia AirAsia from operating between Surabaya and Singapore, saying that the company did not have a permit to fly the route on the Sunday, the day of Flight 8501’s crash.

Although the ministry did not explicitly link the permit to the crash, the discovery prompted an investigation into the prevalence of the practice in Indonesia’s aviation industry.

“We conducted an evaluation and audit. The result is that we found unlicensed flights on 61 [routes],” Minister Ignasius Jonan said during a press conference on Friday, without elaborating on the time period during which violations were found to have occurred.

Jonan said budget carrier Lion Air was the worst offender, with permit violations on 35 of their routes.

Second is Wings Air with 18, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia with four, chartered flight operator Susi Air with three and one for Transnusa.

The figure does not include the incident AirAsia route, the permit for which the transport ministry suspended last week.

“The five carriers will be sanctioned in the form of a suspension of the unlicensed flight [routes],” the minister said.

The carriers will be required to reapply for the necessary licenses if they want to resume service.

Jonan said the scandal is prompting a major overhaul within the ministry.

At least 10 top-ranking officials, including three directors, will be reassigned and a principal aviation inspector has already been suspended from active duty.

“The government felt that a lot of restructuring is needed [to address the issue],” he said.

Similar restructuring will also occur inside airport operator Angkasa Pura and air traffic controller AirNav.

After permit scandal was discovered, Angkasa Pura reassigned two officials; AirNav reassigned four.

“I’ve instructed the Air Transportation Directorate General to increase supervision to ensure regulations are followed,” Ignasius said, adding that he is also planning to impose tighter regulations.

“Two months ago we began conducting a regulatory overhaul in all sectors. But because of this crash, air transportation will be given more [focus],” he said.

To prevent future licensing problems, Jonan said route clearance and permits will now be processed online.

“This month [the online system] will be in place,” the minister said.

AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed on Dec. 28 amid stormy weather as it flew from Surabaya to Singapore, claiming the lives of all 162 people on board.

The Indonesian meteorological agency has said weather was the “triggering factor,” with ice likely damaging the engines of the Airbus A320-200.

Before take-off, the plane’s pilot, Captain Iriyanto, had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a major storm.

The request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia’s air traffic control.

Additional reporting from Reuters

Related Article:

Indonesia to Evaluate All Airlines Following AirAsia License Questions

Transport Ministry Says AirAsia License Incomplete for Route

Transport Ministry Says AirAsia License Incomplete for Route

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Jan 03, 2015

An Indonesian Air Force official shows a map to journalists of the search area for
 the missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501, at the airport in Surabaya,
East Java, on Dec. 29, 2014. (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

Jakarta. The AirAsia plane that crashed off Indonesia was flying on an unauthorised schedule, the country’s transport ministry said on Saturday, adding it had now frozen the airline’s permission to fly the route.

As two large parts of the plane were found on the sea bed late on Friday by the international search team, director general of air transport Djoko Murjatmodjo said the doomed airliner’s flight time had not been cleared by officials.

Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people on board en route from Indonesia’s second city Surabaya to Singapore early on Sunday.

“It violated the route permit given, the schedule given, that’s the problem,” he told AFP. “AirAsia’s permit for the route has been frozen because it violated the route permit given.”

He said the permit would be frozen until investigations were completed.

A statement from transport ministry spokesman JA Barata said AirAsia was not permitted to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on Sundays and had not asked to change its schedule.

It was unclear how the airliner had been able to fly without the necessary authorisation.

The plane was operated by AirAsia Indonesia, a unit of Malaysia-based AirAsia, which previously had a solid safety record.

On Saturday, the head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said that two large parts of the plane had been found in the search area at depth of around 30m, raising hopes that its black boxes will be recovered soon.

Bambang Soelistyo told reporters in Jakarta that the multinational search team came across the objects off the island of Borneo late on Friday night.

“With the discovery of an oil spill and two big parts of the aircraft, I can assure you these are the parts of the AirAsia plane we have been looking for,” Soelistyo said.

He said the larger of the objects was around 10m x 5m.

“As I speak we are lowering an ROV [remotely operated underwater vehicle] underwater to get an actual picture of the objects detected on the sea floor. All are at the depth of 30 metres,” Soelistyo said.

He added however that a strong current was making it difficult to operate the ROV.

The families of victims have been preparing funerals as the bodies recovered are identified in Surabaya, where a crisis centre has been set up at a police hospital with facilities to store 150 bodies.

Before take-off, the pilot of Flight 8501 had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a storm, but the request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia’s air traffic control.

In his last communication shortly before all contact was lost, he said he wanted to change course to avoid the menacing storm system.

Agence France-Presse

The country's transport ministry said the ill-fated aircraft had been flying on

 an unauthorised schedule when it crashed, and the airline has now been suspended

 from flying the route from the city of Surabaya to Singapore. (AFP Photo/

Manan Vatsyayana)

Related Article:

Indonesia to Evaluate All Airlines Following AirAsia License Questions

AirAsia, Indonesia and Effective Crisis Management

Jakarta Globe, Bloomberg, Dec 31, 2014

President Joko Widodo on board a Hercules plane taking part in the
search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501, on Tuesday.(Antara Photo/Andika Wahyu)

In his run for president this year, Joko Widodo pledged to bring greater openness and accountability to Indonesia. As his administration faces its first international crisis, the mysterious crash of an AirAsia jet, he’s proving to be a man of his word.

You can tell a lot about a nation from its response to great tragedy, whether it’s Japan’s 2011 Fukushima crisis, Malaysia’s lost Boeing 777 in March or South Korea’s deadly ferry accident in April. So far, Joko has performed admirably.

Since news broke on Sunday that an Airbus A320 flying from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore vanished with 162 people on board, Joko has coordinated search-and-rescue efforts, demanded a review of air safety regulations and called on weather agencies to provide timelier information. His government is giving steady updates, and Joko has sought help from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Australia and, remarkably, China and the US in finding Flight QZ8501.

In contrast, last spring, Malaysia was widely criticized for the secrecy and paranoia that surrounded its search for a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared with 239 people aboard. Welcoming US and Chinese military ships into Indonesia’s orbit speaks to Joko’s confidence as a leader.

Let’s hope this is a harbinger of future competence. Joko is the fifth president since dictator Suharto was ousted in 1998 but the first true political outsider to run Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. Because he’s not a member of a dynastic family or the military, he isn’t beholden to vested interests looking to siphon the benefits of Indonesia’s 5 percent growth. That gives him latitude to dismantle the kleptocracy that Suharto built during his 32-year reign and raise Indonesia’s competitiveness.

As governor of Jakarta, starting in 2012, Joko brought a surprising level of transparency. He moved budget procurement and tax collection processes online. He’s now working to make national government services electronic to reduce opportunities for graft and improve efficiency. Opening up the process of granting licenses for developing infrastructure, mines and plantations alone would do much to clean up the nation’s political and business climate.

Indonesia’s aviation industry also has long cried out for greater oversight. Its carriers, air traffic controllers and the skies around the archipelago of 250 million people are notorious for their regulatory laxity. As recently as 2009, state carrier Garuda was banned from European Union airspace. That laxity is a product of decades of cronyism and institutional neglect.

While Joko’s predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made inroads against graft, Indonesia’s still ranks behind Djibouti and Argentina and a sober 22 rungs below India in Transparency International’s latest corruption perceptions index. The daylight Joko wants to shine on the government is needed to attract more foreign investment and ensure that scarce revenues are spent on education, health care and poverty programs.

The openness and assertiveness with which Joko has responded to Flight QZ8501 gives me reason to hope that Indonesia will be prepared for whatever comes its way.

William Pesek is a Bloomberg View columnist based in Tokyo and writes on economics, markets and politics throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

President Joko Widodo, center, talks to the head of Indonesia’s national search
 and rescue agency, Soelistyo, left, and Chief of the Sea Security Coordinating
 Agency, Vice Admiral Desi Albert Mamahit, right, shortly before a news conference
 about missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8501 in Jakarta, on Dec. 29, 2014.
 (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

Related Articles:

Bodies Retrieved in AirAsia Search, Extensive Recovery Operation Set for Wednesday
Oil Slick Fuels Search for AirAsia QZ8501

Tweets Expressing Grief and Prayers for Missing AirAsia Indonesia Flight

PM under fire as 118,000 flee worst Malaysia floods in decades

Bodies Retrieved in AirAsia Search, Extensive Recovery Operation Set for Wednesday

Jakarta Globe, Basten Gokkon, Dec 31, 2014

Jakarta. The search for the missing Indonesia AirAsia plane carrying 162 people appeared to be over on Tuesday evening after rescuers pulled bodies and debris from the sea off the coast of Kalimantan.

The Indonesian Navy confirmed that more than 40 bodies had been pulled from the sea as dusk fell, and authorities will continue with an extensive recovery operation on Wednesday.

The military chief, Gen. Moeldoko, refused, though, to confirm the Navy’s comments about the bodies and said all statements about the number of bodies recovered would have to go through Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, or Basarnas, which is coordinating the search efforts.

Basarnas chief Bambang Soelistyo said at a press conference that six bodies were found and three had been retrieved as well as some of the debris from the water and all of those were brought to the Central Kalimantan town of Pangkalan Bun.

“We’ve been able to verify that three of the bodies are those of two women and one man,” he said at the agency’s headquarters in Jakarta.

Items resembling an emergency slide, plane door and other objects were spotted in the sea during an aerial search for Flight QZ8501 about midday.

Basarnas confirmed with certainty that the items spotted during an aerial search was debris from the plane.

“Today we can confirm 100 percent that the debris and bodies are from the plane that we have been looking for,” Soelistyo said.

The breakthrough came more than 48 hours after the plane disappeared over the Java Sea en route from Surabaya to Singapore.

There were 155 passengers on board, including 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian and one Briton. The seven-member crew consisted of six Indonesians and the French co-pilot.

A number of vessels were on their way to the waters of the Karimata Strait, some 160 kilometers from Pangkalan Bun, to collect the debris on Tuesday.

The navy later confirmed a large part of the missing Airbus A320-200 was also found 62 kilometers from the area where debris was first spotted.

“We have found some more debris and the cargo hold, which is still 65 percent intact,” 1st Lt. Galang told news portal Detik.com.

(JG & Beritasatu.com Graphics/Nadia Tammu & Danung Arifin)

An extensive search

President Joko Widodo spoke at a press conference at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at around 7 p.m. to express his condolences to family members of the passengers and crew of the flight, adding that an extensive search will be conducted on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow morning, there will be a huge search operation by using aircraft and vessels,” Joko said. “I’ve instructed the National Search and Rescue Agency to make a joint operation to find the body of the airplane and also passengers and flight crew. I’ve instructed them to focus on retrieving the passengers and flight crew.

“I also want to thank and give my highest appreciation to the National Search and Rescue Agency, the Indonesian Armed Forces, the National Police, the volunteers and also the fishermen who have helped in the search of the airplane, the passengers and flight crew.

“I also want to thank the neighboring countries who have joined in in the search — from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia,” he said.

“For the families of the passengers and flight crew, I’m also at a loss from this incident and I’m sending my prayers to the families so that they can find the strength to get through this misfortune,” Joko said.

AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes was also present at the press conference, saying that he hoped that the flight recorder box will be recovered as part of the investigation as to why the aircraft went down into the sea. He defended the captain’s experience and the performance of the aircraft but accepted responsibility as leader of the company.

“You don’t know what went wrong,” Fernandes said. “This is a scar that will be with me for the rest of my life.”

He offered his condolences to the family members of the passengers and crew, adding that the focus would be on the recovery of remains and the aircraft.

“Words can’t express what they’re going through, but I’ve talked to the families with my limited bahasa Indonesia,” Fernandes said.

Compensation will be given to the families, he said, but he will wait for an investigation on the cause of the aircraft’s accident.

“We’ll keep investigating what went wrong during the accident,” he said.

A crew member on an Indonesian Maritime Surveillance looks out the window
during a search for Indonesia AirAsia’s flight QZ8501, north of Bangka island
on Dec. 30, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Darren Whiteside)

‘Be strong’

Soelistyo  of Basarnas said in an interview with Metro TV at around 8:30 p.m. that the extensive search will commence at 6 a.m. on Wednesday and will include 47 divers to the nine who are already stationed at Pangkalan Bun. The nine divers were supposed to help in the search on Tuesday but were held back because of bad weather, he said.

Soelistyo  had told reporters earlier in the day that a “shadow” on the seabed spotted by an Air Force plane was believed to be the missing AirAsia jet.

“On information regarding shadows on the seabed, we received that information from one of our units. We will investigate based on the information and find out whether it’s the airplane or another object. I will deploy vessels that have sonar systems to investigate it,” Soelistyo told Metro TV.

Relatives of the 155 passengers and seven crew members burst into tears and hugged each other after footage of a body was broadcast during the Basarnas press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini comforted relatives at the airport and told them “to be strong.”

About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search of up to 10,000 square nautical miles.

The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic, officials said.

The flight was led by Capt. Irianto, who had a total of 6,100 flying hours under his belt. His first officer had clocked in 2,275 flying hours.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane about 45 minutes after it left Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport at 5:36 a.m. on Sunday.

AirAsia Indonesia said in a statement that its employees have been sent to the site and will cooperate fully with Indonesian authorities.

The airline said it would invite victims’ families to Surabaya and where a team of dedicated carers would be assigned to each family. Counselors and “religious and spiritual personnel” had also been invited, the company said.

Sunu Widyatmoko, chief executive of Indonesia AirAsia, said the company would like to extend its sincerest sympathies to the family and friends of those on board the flight.

Additional reporting from AFP & Reuters

Jokowi: An extensive search on #QZ8501 will be conducted on Wednesday

Oil Slick Fuels Search for AirAsia QZ8501

Gone: Search teams from four nations are scouring the Java Sea for signs of the missing plane with 162 people aboard

Jakarta Globe, Dec 29, 2014

 (JG Graphics/Azalea Phinata)

Jakarta. Search and rescue parties have reportedly spotted what seems to be an oil slick in the Java Sea, giving officials a glimmer of hope that the missing Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 could be found within this week.

“One of our Air Force planes conducting a search over Belitung spotted some kind of oil spill,” National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) chief Bambang Soelistyo said on Monday.

Belitung is an island off the coast of Sumatra, the site of where the flight last made contact with air traffic control.

Soelistyo said a Navy patrol vessel had been deployed to the area to conduct further investigations, but warned reporters the discovery may have no relation to the missing Airbus A320-200 jet.

“We haven’t concluded that the oil spill came from [the missing] plane,” he said.

The pool of oil was spotted 105 nautical miles (194 kilometers) off the island of Bangka, in the Bangka-Belitung archipelago off the southeastern edge of Sumatra.

“Hopefully it is from the AirAsia plane. But we can’t confirm it,” Soelistyo said.

The search for Flight QZ8501 was resumed at dawn on Monday. Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have dispatched aircraft and ships to assist Indonesia in the search, which was divided into seven zones. Seven helicopters, 11 fixed-wing aircraft and 16 ships were deployed to search a 160-square-kilometer area, officials said.

Soelistyo said that search crews would expand their search to focus on parts of the Java Sea between Belitung and West Kalimantan.

“A further four [search] zones will be added. It is merely an expansion of the existing zones,” he said.

Though he remained confident that search crews would find the aircraft, the Basarnas chief did not expect to find survivors, telling journalists the plane was most likely “at the bottom of the sea.”

“That’s the preliminary suspicion and it can develop based on the evaluation of the result of our search,” he said.

President Joko Widodo, center, talks to the head of Indonesia’s national search
 and rescue agency, Soelistyo, left, and Chief of the Sea Security Coordinating
 Agency, Vice Admiral Desi Albert Mamahit, right, shortly before a news conference
 about missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8501 in Jakarta, on Dec. 29, 2014.
 (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

Search teams are currently scouring an area of the Java Sea that runs 40 to 50 meters deep, he said, adding that Indonesia had reached out to other countries for equipment needed to search the seabed.

“Due to the lack of technology at our disposal, I asked our foreign minister to approach countries who have offered their services. They are the UK, France and the United States,” he said. “The search will not be easy… [but] we will not be discouraged in any way.”

Meanwhile, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) chief Andi Eka Sakya said on Monday that the next two days would provide the best opportunities for rescue teams to locate the missing plane.

The agency predicted light showers with waves no higher than 1.5 meters in the search areas. The weather is then expected to deteriorate, with heavy rains and waves up to three meters high.

The BMKG chief confirmed the missing AirAsia plan had run into inclement weather at the time it vanished from radar.

The jet carrying 162 people was traveling at an elevation of 32,000 feet (9,700 meters) at 6:12 a.m. on Sunday when it radioed for permission to turn left and climb to 38,000 feet to avoid bad weather, according to Transportation Ministry spokesman J.A. Barata.

The pilot request’s was denied due to  air traffic above the plane.

Twelve minutes later, at approximately 6:24 a.m. the aircraft disappeared from air traffic control’s radar.

At 7:55 a.m., Flight QZ8501 was officially declared missing.

Air traffic control officers confirmed they received no emergency broadcasts.

AirAsia confirmed the 155 passengers onboard comprised 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian and one Briton. The seven-member crew consisted of six Indonesians and the French co-pilot.

A member of the Indonesian military looks
 out of the window during a search and
rescue operation for missing Indonesia
AirAsia flight QZ8501, over the waters 
of the Java Sea on Dec. 29, 2014. (AFP
Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

The flight was lead by Captain Irianto, who had a total of 6,100 flying hours under his belt. His first officer had clocked in 2,275 flying hours.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane about 45 minutes after it left Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport at 5:36 a.m.

The missing plane was operated by Indonesia AirAsia, a unit of Malaysian-based AirAsia, which dominates Southeast Asia’s booming low-cost airline market.

The Transportation Ministry said it would review the company’s operations.

“We will do a ground check as well as a review of AirAsia’s operations in Indonesia to ensure that all of its [aviation] activities can improve,” Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters.

The plane had last undergone its scheduled maintenance on Nov. 16.

Australia on Monday joined the Indonesia-led search for the plane. A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AP-3C Orion took off from the northern city of Darwin early on Monday to join the operation, the Australian Defense Force said.

“The RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft has a well-proven capability in search and rescue and carries maritime search radar coupled with infrared and electro-optical sensors to support the visual observation capabilities provided by its highly trained crew,” said chief of defense Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pledged to help Indonesia in the search for the missing aircraft, calling President Joko on Sunday to offer his full assistance in the matter.

Additional reporting from AFP & Reuters

AirAsia Plane Likely ‘At Bottom of Sea’: Indonesia Search Chief

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Dec 29, 2014

Indonesian Vice President, left, with National Search and Rescue Agency
official, Barokna. (Antara Photo/Wahyu Putro)

Jakarta. The Indonesia AirAsia plane which went missing with 162 people on board en route for Singapore is likely at the bottom of the sea, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency chief said Monday.

“Based on the coordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea, the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea,” Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference.

“That’s the preliminary suspicion and it can develop based on the evaluation of the result of our search.”

Bambang said Indonesia did not have “the tools”, such as submersible vehicles, required to retrieve the plane from the seabed, but that it is reaching out to other countries for help if necessary.

“Due to the lack of technology that we have, I have coordinated with our foreign minister so we will borrow from other countries which have offered. They are the UK, France and US,” he said.

Flight QZ85501, an Airbus A320-200, disappeared Sunday en route from Surabaya in Indonesia’s east Java to Singapore after the crew requested a change of flight plan due to stormy weather, in the third crisis for a Malaysian carrier this year.

Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have dispatched aircraft and ships to assist Indonesia in the search, which is centred on the Java Sea. The US has also said it was ready to assist.

Agence France-Presse

Indonesia Raises Subsidized Fuel Prices by Rp 2,000 a Liter

Jakarta Globe, Dion Bisara, Nov 17, 2014

(Antara Photo/Fanny Octavianus)

Jakarta. Indonesia raised subsidized fuel prices by an average Rp 2,000 per liter, in an attempt to curb fuel usage and narrow the gaps in the current account and the state budget.

The price for low-octane gasoline, or Premium, will rise to Rp 8,500 per liter, from Rp 6,500. Subsidized diesel was raised to Rp 7,500 per liter from Rp 5,500. The prices would go into effect at midnight on Monday.

The move would also help to reduce state expenses on the subsidy and that money could be used for other programs such as education and health care.

President Joko Widodo announced the prices increases at around 9:10 p.m. on Monday in an address that was broadcast via television.

“The increase is moderate even by recent latest increases standard because we see a decline in global oil price trend,” said Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said before the announcement.

Sofyan Djalil, the coordinating minister for economic affairs, said in a press briefing on Monday that the government has so much infrastructure that needs to be built that “we need to save some of our budget for productive spending.”

Bambang Brodjonegoro, the finance minister, said that the increase will save Rp 120 trillion ($9.8 billion) in the 2015 state budget.

Indonesia’s current account deficit has narrowed to 3 percent of gross domestic product in the third quarter from 4.3 percent of GDP in the previous three-month period.

The government last raised subsidized fuel prices in June 2013 by an average Rp 3,000 a liter.

Indonesia Takes Delivery of Presidential Jet

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite,Apr 10, 2014

Indonesia’s first presidential plane. (JG Photo/Ezra Sihite)

Jakarta. Indonesia took delivery of its $91 million presidential plane on Thursday, a Boeing jet the State Palace will use for official business instead of chartering flights from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

“This is the first time in Indonesia’s 69 years of independence that we have our own presidential plane,” State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said at the delivery event at Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta, as quoted by his officialwebsite, Setkab.go.id.

Sudi said the Boeing Business Jet 2, which has a capacity for 67 passengers, had been customized to meet the requirements of the government.

“After meticulous calculations along with deep consideration and input from many parties — especially the House of Representatives — the ownership and usage of a presidential plane [was determined to have] more benefits,” he said.

The government has been keen to emphasize the cost-saving benefits of the plane, countering those who believed the plane was an unnecessary expenditure.

“From our calculations, we can save the state budget around Rp 114.2 billion [$10.05 million] every year from the use of the plane for the years ahead,” he said.

Sudi said the livery was chosen by the government and dismissed critics of the ministry’s color scheme. 

“Why does it have to be blue? Ask why does the sky have to be blue,” he said. “Blue is part of camouflage in flight security and it’s the color of the Air Force.”

Indonesian Bureaucracy Grounded MH370 Search Flights, Military Pledges ‘Fullest Support’

Jakarta Globe, Harry Jacques & Josua Gantan, Mar 19, 2014

Students stand next to a giant mural featuring missing Malaysia Airlines flight
 MH370 displayed on the grounds of their school in Manila’s financial district of
Makati on March 18, 2014. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta. International search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 hit a setback after Indonesia failed to give clearance for six foreign aircraft to fly over national airspace into the Indian Ocean on Tuesday in spite of assurances that Indonesia’s armed forces had extended its ”fullest support” to the continuing search.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) issued approval for search planes to fly through national airspace earlier this week, but delays in subsequent sign-offs by the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forced three countries’ search flights to remain grounded in Malaysia, testing relations between two countries well used to locking diplomatic horns.

“For the flight permits to be given out, there needed to be approvals from three different government institutions — the defense ministry, the transportation ministry, and the foreign affairs ministry,” TNI spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul told the Jakarta Globe. “Government institutions other than the TNI had to work on this, too, so the permit was stuck.”

Some 26 countries have banded together since March 8 to search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER over a search area spanning some 22 million square nautical miles, and Indonesia has assumed an important role as the gateway country out of Malaysia to one of two search areas. The southern corridor begins west of Banda Aceh and takes in a vast arc past Western Australia into some of the most remote expanse of the Indian Ocean with an average water depth of around 4,000 meters.

“It probably is the largest peacetime armada of assets and satellite information-sharing that we have ever seen for a rescue and search operation,” Malaysia’s Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said, as quoted by Reuters.

The Indonesian government has so far lent 11 assets to the ongoing search, according to the Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia.

“We have one aircraft — a Boeing 727-200 from the TNI Air Force,” Ambassador Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim told the Jakarta Globe. “We have one Cassa C-212 aircraft, which belongs to the Navy, and five ships also from the Navy.

“We also have one helicopter and three rescue boats from the National Search and Rescue Agency. That’s what we have on record.”

The BBC reported on Tuesday that the southern search had been hampered after the central government banned six planes from flying over Indonesian territory.

Four aircraft from the Japanese Self Defense Force, including Hercules and P-3 Orion planes, as well as a South Korean P-3 Orion and a US P-3 Orion were grounded in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

“We were supposed to take off 7 or 8 hours ago originally to head out over the Indian Ocean south of Java and to search a grid pattern for signs of the missing Malaysian airline,” Rupert Wingfield Hayes, a senior BBC reporter in Kuala Lumpur, said on Tuesday. “All of these aircraft are sitting on the ground.

“There is no search, no aerial search anyway, going on from Malaysia [on Tuesday]. The reason for that is that we have been waiting all day for the Indonesian government to give the foreign military aircraft permission to overfly it’s territory and it simply has not come.”

The Malaysian Embassy’s First Secretary Khairul Tazril Tarmizi would not be drawn on the delay in granting clearance, saying on Wednesday only that the Malaysian government’s position regarding Indonesia’s cooperation remained unchanged.

“Indonesia has been fully cooperative,” Tazril told the Jakarta Globe. “The ambassador’s view is still the same as [on Tuesday].”

The State Palace said it was unaware of the issue when contacted on Wednesday, adding that it would be discussed at a meeting later in the day. But according to Rear Adm. Iskandar, the TNI had tried to expedite the permits. The delay in allowing the six aircraft to take off was a consequence of the labyrinthine bureaucracy of other government bodies, he said.

‘Fullest support’

“We want to get things straight — they [the grounded planes] have received their permits from the TNI,” Iskandar said. “It is incorrect to say that the TNI did not give them the permits. This is a humanitarian problem and it is only right that we help as fast as we could.  The TNI’s principle is that we will give our fullest support. You can see that we sent five warships to the Malacca Strait to help.”

Indonesian Naval commander Adm. Marsetio spoke with his counterpart in the Malaysian Navy, Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, and dispatched the five ships to the Strait of Malacca on Mar. 9.

“[The Mar. 18 flights] were just delayed, we did not reject the permits,” Iskandar said. “There is a mechanism; it was just a bureaucratic problem. We never intend to slow down the process. Please get this right, the TNI never intended to make the process difficult.”

The Indonesian armed forces said there should be no additional overfly clearance issues as the search continued.

“I have checked this with the intelligence, all the grounded flights have been granted access,” Iskandar said. “By now, they can operate.”

 

A Chinese family member of a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines
 Flight MH370 is brought into a room outside the media conference area at a
hotel in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Mar. 19, 2014. (Reuters Photo)

Background checks

While Indonesia’s nebulous bureaucracy grounded search flights from taking off from Malaysia to search into the southern corridor on Tuesday, the Malaysian government said there had been no holdup in Indonesia’s willingness to supply background information held by the country’s intelligence agency on the seven Indonesian passengers on flight MH370.

The passenger manifest lists the Indonesian travelers as Firman Siregar, 25; Ferryindra Suadaya, 42; Herryindra Suadaya, 35; Lo Sugianto, 42; Indrasuria Tanurisam, 57; Vinny Chynthyatio, 47 and Willy Surijanto Wang, 53.

Only Russia and Ukraine had failed to hand over the results of background checks conducted by national intelligence agencies on Wednesday, according to a tweet by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. The countries that did submit reports of their nationals abroad MH370 found nothing suspicious in their investigations.

Indonesian National Police chief Gen. Sutarman, center, addresses a press
 conference in Jakarta on March 19, 2014, clearing seven Indonesian passengers
 on board the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet of terrorism links. (JG
Photo/Ezra Sihite)

Sidney Jones, a leading expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia and director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, told Reuters on March 16 that she would be ”extremely surprised if any group from Indonesia, the Philippines or Malaysia itself would be directly involved.” A subsequent statement from the Indonesian National Police ruled out any involvement in terrorism by any of the seven Indonesian passengers.

“None of the seven passengers have been involved in a banned organization.” National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said at the State Palace on Wednesday. ”We will give full support… so that Malaysia can have access to the information.”

Malaysian officials in Indonesia said they were working with the Indonesian intelligence agency to conduct further background checks on the seven Indonesian passengers.

“The screening of the passengers’ background is being done by the police, Interpol and the CIA,” Zahrain said.  They are all involved — it’s an international issue. Indonesia has been cooperative in this.”

Cabinet meeting

The Malaysian Prime Minister and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke on the phone earlier this week to discuss cooperation efforts, while defense minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that a meeting of the cabinet chaired by the president was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Wednesday to further discuss the search for MH370.

The outcome of this meeting could not be confirmed by deadline.

Purnomo told reporters on Wednesday that Indonesia had not detected MH370 on either its civilian or military radar systems.

“[On the morning of Mar. 8] we did not get detection from any of our radars,” Purnomo said. “There was no detection of any strange plane; there was none.”

Despite the delay in allowing six aircraft to leave their stands in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the Malaysian government said that it remained satisfied by cooperation with Jakarta.

“The search will continue until we find the plane,” the Malaysian ambassador said. “How long that takes, I don’t know — we don’t know where the aircraft is. The best thing now is to pray.”

—Additional reporting by Reuters

The family of MH370 passenger Firman Chandra Siregar watch television
at their house in Medan, North Sumatra, on March 9, 2014. (EPA Photo)

Related Article:

Missing MH370 likely to have disintegrated mid-flight: experts