A NEW Garuda Airlines policy of limiting fuel use may have influenced a pilot not to abort a Boeing 737 landing in Yogyakarta last month that resulted in 21 deaths, the head of the airline's pilots' association says.
Captain Stephanus Geraldus said the jet's pilot, Captain Marwoto Komar, made an "impossible" decision to continue landing at excessive speed.
His comments came after The Age revealed details of the preliminary crash investigation report, which found the plane was travelling at more than 400 km/h when Captain Komar hit the runway.
"This is a surprise, this is too fast. How could the pilot decide like that?" Captain Stephanus said. "The company is making extra payments to pilots if they can conserve fuel. Maybe this is bothering the pilot."
Captain Stephanus, who interviewed Captain Komar soon after the accident, said the pilot should have "gone around" and "there must be some human factor problem".
Indonesian officials released the accident report yesterday,after Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa tried to suppress its details.
The report finds the plane approached at "faster than normal speed with the flaps not configured for landing" and reveals the runway safety area at Yogyakarta does not meet international standards.
It also says fire and rescue vehicles were inadequately equipped and could not reach the scene quickly enough.
Several passengers are believed to have been burnt alive while airport fire trucks were unable to reach the jet, which caught fire from a ruptured fuel line soon after overshooting the runway.
The report rules out mechanical failure and weather conditions as causes of the crash, which left 21 people dead, including five Australians.
The report, by Indonesia's National Transport Safety Commission, calls for runways at major regional airports, including Yogyakarta, to be upgraded.
Chief investigator Mardjono Sisowosuwarno said a longer runway would not have prevented the crash as the plane was travelling too fast, "but it could have been less severe".
Commission chairman Tatang Kurniadi denied the pilots had argued in the cockpit about the need to abort the landing. He ruled out calling for prosecutions.
A separate Indonesian police investigation into the crash is continuing.
The report does not include a transcript of the flight's cockpit voice recorder, which is central to the ongoing investigation.
However, The Age believes the recording does not support claims that the pilot and co-pilot were arguing about aborting the landing during the plane's descent.
Only in the seconds before touchdown did the co-pilot suggest that the jet "go around" and re-attempt the landing.
Captain Komar continued to land, despite the jet's computer systems broadcasting warnings during the approach.
It is believed the voice recording includes an alarm and aural computerised warnings that sounded "whoop, whoop, pull up".
As the plane was travelling more than 160 km/h faster than safe landing speed, its wing flaps could also not be configured for landing.
Captain Stephanus said that "there must be some problem, it is not a good decision — there should be a go-around".
He said a new Garuda policy to pay pilots a3 per cent bonus if they conserved fuel could hamper flight safety.
Garuda did not return calls.
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