Adam Air Flight 574
PK-KKW, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed in 2006
Accident
Date1 January 2007 (2007-01-01)
SummaryIn-flight breakup due to inertial navigation system malfunction leading to spatial disorientation; pilot error[1][2]
SiteMakassar Strait off Majene, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Black boxes at 03°41′02″S 118°08′53″E / 3.68389°S 118.14806°E / -3.68389; 118.14806 and 03°40′22″S 118°09′16″E / 3.67278°S 118.15444°E / -3.67278; 118.15444
03°40′44″S 118°09′4″E / 3.67889°S 118.15111°E / -3.67889; 118.15111
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-4Q8
OperatorAdam Air
IATA flight No.KI574
ICAO flight No.DHI574
Call signADAM SKY 574
RegistrationPK-KKW
Flight originSoekarno–Hatta International Airport
Jakarta
StopoverJuanda International Airport
Surabaya, East Java
DestinationSam Ratulangi International Airport
Manado, North Sulawesi
Occupants102
Passengers96
Crew6
Fatalities102
Survivors0

Adam Air Flight 574 (KI574 or DHI574) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Adam Air between the Indonesian cities of Surabaya and Manado[3] that crashed into the Makassar Strait near Polewali in Sulawesi on 1 January 2007.[4] All 102 people on board died, making it the deadliest aviation accident involving a Boeing 737-400. A national investigation was launched into the disaster. The final report, released on 25 March 2008, concluded that the pilots lost control of the aircraft after they became preoccupied with troubleshooting the inertial navigation system and inadvertently disconnected the autopilot.[1] Despite a series of safety incidents, which contributed to the shut down of Adam Air in 2008, this was the only incident resulting in fatalities during the airline's 5-year existence.

The crash is one of several transportation accidents, including the subsequent non-fatal crash of Flight 172, which resulted in the United States downgrading its safety rating of Indonesian aviation and led to large-scale transportation safety reforms in Indonesia. All Indonesian airlines were banned from flying into the European Union for several years after the crash. Adam Air was banned from flying by the Indonesian government in March 2008, and declared bankruptcy in June of the same year.[5]

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-4Q8 with serial number 24070, registration PK-KKW, which was manufactured in 1989 and was acquired by Adam Air in November 2005.[6][7] Prior to service with Adam Air, the aircraft was owned by International Lease Finance Corporation and has been leased to seven airlines: Dan-Air, British Airways, GB Airways, Transaero, WFBN, Air One and Jat Airways.[8] The plane was equipped with 2 CFM56-3C1 engines, had around 50,000 hours flying, and was last evaluated and declared airworthy by the Indonesian transport ministry on 25 December 2005.[9] It was due to be checked again in late January 2007.[9] The Surabaya airport duty manager said that there were no technical problems with the aircraft prior to departure.[10]

Pilots

The pilot-in-command was 46-year-old Captain Refri Agustian Widodo from Sidoarjo, Indonesia, who joined Adam Air in 2006. The first officer was 36-year-old Yoga Susanto from Magelang, an employee of Adam Air who also joined the company in 2006. Captain Widodo was a seasoned veteran, having logged more than 13,300 hours of flying time. As pilot-in-command of Boeing 737 aircraft, he had more than 3,800 hours of experience. First Officer Susanto had 4,200 total flying hours and he had almost 1,000 hours logged as a Boeing 737 first officer.[11][12]

Flight chronology

Flight 574's route

On 1 January 2007, at around 13:00 local time (06:00 UTC),[11]: 5  the plane departed from Juanda Airport, Surabaya, with 96 passengers (85 adults, 7 children and 4 infants), a 56 percent load factor,[13] and 6 crew on board.[3] The passenger list was composed mainly of Indonesian nationals and a majority of passengers were returning to Manado after New Year's Day; the foreigners were an American family of three.[14] The two-hour flight, scheduled to arrive at Sam Ratulangi Airport, Manado, at 16:00 local time,[lower-alpha 1] was as expected until the plane vanished from air traffic control radar screens at Makassar, South Sulawesi, with the final contact at around 15:00 local time.[11]: 8  The last known beacon position was detected by a Singaporean satellite.[13] The altitude of the plane was shown as 35,000 feet (10,670 m) on the radar screen.[15]

Map showing location of Sulawesi Island (light green) among the islands of Indonesia

Weather in the region was stormy;[16] the Indonesian Bureau of Meteorology and Geophysics noted that the cloud thickness was up to 30,000 feet (9,140 m) in height and wind speed at an average of 30 knots (56 km/h) in the area.[17] Although the Juanda Airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura I, had given warnings to the pilot concerning the weather condition, the plane had departed as scheduled.[18] The plane ran into crosswinds of more than 70 knots (130 km/h; 81 mph) over the Makassar Strait, west of Sulawesi, where it changed course eastward toward land before losing contact.[19]

Problems started when the pilots noticed an anomaly in the inertial reference system (IRS). The first officer then attempted to troubleshoot, resetting his IRS unit by switching the knob on his side to ATT mode; this blanked out his attitude indicator, effectively making it the captain's responsibility to fly the plane straight and level for 30 seconds as the realignment process is completed. The captain did not do this. As a result of his fixation on the faulty IRS, he did not fly the aircraft, and previous maintenance issues involving the aircraft's ailerons caused the airplane to gradually roll slowly to the right. When the aircraft reached 35 degrees right bank, and increasing, a "bank angle" audible warning sounded in the cockpit.

In a panic, Captain Widodo told the First Officer to switch the IRS mode back to NAV, to hopefully reverse the situation they got themselves into. Now that the first officer's attitude indicator had returned to its normal state, First Officer Susanto could see that the aircraft was in a dangerous position, and attempted to notify the captain. When this failed, he then tried to recover the aircraft from its descent by turning the yoke to the left. Believing that the aircraft was flying straight and level, Captain Widodo then unknowingly reminded First Officer Susanto that the aircraft needed to fly straight and level in order to complete the IRS alignment process. The aircraft now was in a 100 degree bank with a 60 degree nose down attitude. First Officer Susanto successfully notified the captain of their situation. In response to the first officer telling him to pull up to stop the rapid descent towards the sea, Captain Widodo pulled back on his yoke, and the aircraft, travelling over 90 percent of the speed of sound, began to break apart in-flight. All recordings stopped at 9000 feet, presumably because the aircraft had fully broken apart.

No distress signals were sent by the aircraft.[20][21]

Victims

NationalityPassengersCrewTotal
Germany101
Indonesia[lower-alpha 2]92698
United States303
Total966102

There was one German, 98 Indonesians and three American citizens on board the flight.[22]

Search and rescue efforts

3,600 army and police personnel were mobilised in the search for the missing aircraft.[23] One Boeing 737-200 Surveiller (a military surveillance plane), two infrared-equipped Fokker-50 aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Air Force,[24][25] a Navy Nomad plane and six helicopters were dispatched to aid searching for the missing plane from the air.[23][26] The Indonesian sonar-equipped ship Pulau Rengat, capable of detecting underwater metallic objects later joined the team, equipped with a mini remote-controlled submarine.[27][28] It searched the sea for five days between 3 and 8 January, without success.[29]

Naval ships combed the Makassar Strait while military personnel went through jungles and mountains of Sulawesi.[30] In the face of heavy rain and strong winds in the area, the search efforts, coordinated from Makassar city, were focused in the area between the coastal town of Majene and the mountainous region of Toraja.[30] The search in the two areas was due to twin signals, each carrying different emergency locator transmitter frequencies, received by the Singaporean satellite and an Indonesian military air base.[31] The two separate locations produced on radar screens were a spot on the sea in Majene and on land in Rantepao, Tana Toraja.[32][lower-alpha 3] Searches were then expanded throughout the Island of Sulawesi; some were triggered by unknown distress signals received by a commercial Lion Air flight and an airport.[33] A police officer at the Barru district police operational centre said that all the districts with stretches of coastline along the Makasser Strait had teams searching for the plane.[34]

The head of the National Search and Rescue Agency told the Associated Press that he believed the aircraft was probably lost at sea.[35] From 5 January 2007, the main focus of the search was relocated to areas south of Manado, after Manado's Sam Ratulangi Airport reported detecting a signal from the plane a day before.[36] The rugged terrain coupled with thick and low hanging clouds continued to hamper the search efforts, however, and three relatives of missing passengers who overflew part of the area on a military reconnaissance plane admitted that the chances of finding the plane were slim.[37] Officials said that it was unlikely any bodies had remained in one piece.[38] On 14 January, at Indonesia's request, Singapore lent four towed underwater locator beacon detectors, sometimes called Towed Pinger Locators, and six consultants in their use to aid in the search.[39][40] One week later, one of these Towed Pinger Locators, operated from the USNS Mary Sears successfully located the black boxes.[41] On 24 January, the British ship MN ''Endeavour'' joined the search for wreckage. The ship is operated by local mining firm PT Gema Tera Mustikawati and is usually used by oil and gas drilling companies to map the seabed.[42] By then, the Indonesian government had spent an average of Rp 1 billion (about US$110,000) a day on the search.[43]

On 10 February, search operations were officially halted by the Search and Rescue Agency, according to Transportation Minister Hatta Rajasa, finalising the legal status of both the plane and its passengers and crew. This announcement allowed the families of the victims to start the insurance claims process.[44]

Discovery of wreckage

Locations on topographical map of Sulawesi
= black boxes = international airports
= related cities

Unidentified submerged objects

On Monday, 8 January, three large metal objects, suspected to be wreckage, were detected by the Indonesian ship KRI Fatahillah's sonar.[45] First Admiral Gatot Subyanto of the Indonesian Navy indicated three locations, between 3–6 km (1.9–3.7 mi; 1.6–3.2 nmi) apart, off Mamuju city on Sulawesi's western coast. Due to limitations of the navy's sonar equipment, it was not clear what the metal was,[45] and Indonesia had no other equipment of its own.[46] A United States Navy oceanographic survey ship, Mary Sears, arrived in the area on 9 January with better equipment to help identify the objects, and on the same date a Canadian jet with five separate air crews, working in shifts, was sent to aid with aerial mapping of the suspected location.[47] The Indonesian Marine and Fishery Department has since suggested that the metal objects could instead have been instruments deployed to study the underwater sea current. A total of twelve Indonesian Navy ships were deployed in the area, including the KRI Ajak, KRI Leuser and KRI Nala.[48] Extra underwater equipment, including a metal detector and an undersea camera, was sent from the United States, and arrived aboard the USNS Mary Sears on 17 January.[48][49] The flight recorders were subsequently located elsewhere, in the waters in an area known as Majene, and a wide, sweeping search of the area revealed high amounts of scattered debris there, too. This debris was analysed to confirm it belonged to the 737.[50]

Floating debris

The aircraft's right horizontal stabiliser was found by a fisherman, south of Pare Pare, about 300 m (980 ft) off the beach on 11 January,[51] although it was not originally handed in, as its discoverer thought it to be a piece of plywood, only later realising it was a piece of the tail.[52] This was confirmed by the part number on the stabiliser, 65C25746-76, which matched that of components on the missing 737.[53][54] The fisherman received a reward of 50 million rupiah (equivalent to about $5,500) for his discovery.[52] Later, other parts of the aircraft, including passenger seats, life jackets, a food tray, part of an aircraft tire, eight pieces of aluminium and fibre, an ID card, a flare and a headrest were also recovered from the area.[55] By 13 January, a piece of a wing was also recovered.[48] It is unclear whether the 1.5-metre (4 ft 11 in) long section was a section of the right wing or the left wing, although it was examined in an attempt to discover this.[52] The total count of recovered objects associated with aircraft, as of 29 January, was 206, of which 194 were definitely from the 737.[56] Pieces of clothing thought to belong to passengers were also recovered,[52] and on 15 January, pieces of human hair and what is thought to be human scalp were recovered from a headrest that had been pulled from the sea.[57] They were DNA tested to attempt to identify them; the results of this test are, however, unknown.[52]

Cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder

On 21 January 2007, the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), popularly known as black boxes, were located 42 nautical miles off the coast of West Sulawesi by the US vessel Mary Sears.[41] The flight data recorder was located at 03°41′02″S 118°08′53″E / 3.68389°S 118.14806°E / -3.68389; 118.14806 at a depth of 2,000 m (6,600 ft), while the cockpit voice recorder was located at 03°40′22″S 118°09′16″E / 3.67278°S 118.15444°E / -3.67278; 118.15444 at a depth of 1,900 m (6,200 ft),[58] approximately 1.4 km (0.87 mi; 0.76 nmi) apart. CVR recordings showed the last words of the pilots were "Allahu Akbar!" (God Is Greatest!). The Indonesian vessel Fatahillah travelled to the location.[41] The Mary Sears used its side scan sonar (SSS) unit to map an area of approximately 10.3 km2 (3 sq nmi) around the recorders in high resolution, an operation that required 18 passes across the area at approximately 3 knots (6 km/h; 3 mph), taking six hours per pass including lining up for the next pass. It discovered a large amount of wreckage in the area, which was considered to be all that remained of the aircraft.[41] A senior Indonesian marine official said on 24 January that he did not believe that the equipment required to retrieve the boxes from that depth was available in any Asian country.[59] The black boxes had a battery life of just 30 days, and would subsequently be unable to emit locator signals.[40]

On 3 February, Indonesian naval vessel KRI Tanjung Dalpele took affected families out to the crash site where a memorial service was held, which included throwing flowers into the sea.[60]

Salvage

US Navy Mary Sears moored in Singapore after mapping the aircraft crash site in Sulawesi

On 26 January 2007, a dispute arose between Adam Air and the Indonesian government regarding the retrieval of the black boxes. Due to the depth involved, recovery required an underwater remotely operated vehicle, but Indonesia did not have such equipment. Vice-president of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla went so far as to question the need to retrieve the black boxes at all, although experts said in response that the accident was of international significance as it could indicate a fault with the aircraft.[61] Adam Air said that in its opinion, the black boxes should be recovered, describing the accident as being relevant on both national and international levels, but refused to pay, saying that was the responsibility of the government.[62] Indonesia did request technical assistance from the United States, Japan and France.[63] Jim Hall, a former chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board, said that it was essential the boxes be recovered quickly, as at that point their 30-day battery life was about to expire, which subsequently did happen. He cited problems such as poor visibility and strong currents making it difficult to recover the devices without the signal.[61]

On 31 January, it was reported that the US had to withdraw the vessel Mary Sears from the searches, the US military saying that the vessel had other duties. Further funding and help from the US would have to be approved by the United States Congress. At the same time, external companies were suggested as possible retrievers of the black boxes. Indonesia continued to seek help from other countries, such as France and Japan. Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee head Setio Rahardjo maintained that Adam Air should be charged with the retrieval costs.[64]

It was originally confirmed that Indonesia would not pay for the salvage operation, and neither could they force Adam Air to do so.[65][66][67] Nonetheless, Adam Air signed a contract with Phoenix International for the recovery operation.[68] On 23 August, the Eas arrived in Sulawesi's Makassar port to begin salvage operations, which began with several days survey. The vessel was carrying a mini-submarine that could dive up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft), and was equipped with sonar and deep sea cameras.[69][70]

A Phoenix International underwater robot scouring the sea off Majene for on Sulawesi finally retrieved the flight data recorder on 27 August and cockpit voice recorder on 28 August. The two devices were found at a depth of around 2,000 m (6,600 ft) and were 1,400 m (4,600 ft) apart. They had been moved 10–15 m (33–49 ft) from their original locations by powerful underwater currents.[71] The black boxes were sent to Washington, D.C. for analysis.[72][73] The final cost of the salvage operation to retrieve the black boxes was US$3 million,[74] of which two million was contributed by the Indonesian government, with Adam Air paying the rest.[75] Efforts continued with the hope of recovering various large pieces of wreckage from the seabed.[76]

Investigation

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered a full investigation to discover the cause of the aircraft's disappearance, including the cause of any accident it may have had, before the main debris field had even been found. The investigation also looked at the airworthiness of the plane and standard procedure on aircraft operations.[77] A team from the United States with representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric were sent to Indonesia to assist the Indonesian National Committee for Transportation in the investigation.[78][79] A wider investigation into Indonesia's transport system as a whole was planned. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a low-flying, unstable aircraft in the area from which the wreckage has been recovered but lost sight of it after hearing a loud bang. The chief of the Indonesian Aircraft Technicians Association, Wahyu Supriantono, said that the plane was unlikely to have suffered an in-flight break up or explosion, as the debris field would have been larger, and as a result, wreckage would have been discovered earlier.[80] The flight recorders were recovered in August 2007, without which it would not have been possible to discover the cause of the accident.[11]: 54  The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC, or KNKT as per its Indonesian name) described the near eight-month wait for the recovery of the flight recorders as "unacceptable".[65][11]: 54 

On 25 March 2008, the inquiry ruled that pilot error and a faulty navigation device were to blame.[1][81] While cruising at 35,000 feet (11,000 m), the pilots became preoccupied with troubleshooting the aircraft's two inertial reference systems (IRS), part of the navigation system. As they were correcting the problem, they accidentally disengaged the autopilot and failed to correct for a slow right roll even after a "bank angle" alarm sounded. By the time the pilots noticed the situation, the bank angle had reached 100° with almost 60° nose down attitude. Contrary to the correct recovery procedure, the pilots did not level the wings before trying to regain pitch control.[11]: 52  The aircraft reached 490 knots (910 km/h) at the end of the recording, in excess of the aircraft's maximum operating speed (400 knots (740 km/h; 460 mph)). The descent rate varied during the fatal dive, with a maximum recorded value of 53,760 feet per minute, roughly 531 knots (983 km/h; 611 mph). The tailplane suffered a structural failure 20 seconds prior to the end of the recording,[11]: 52  at which time the investigators concluded the aircraft was in a "critically unrecoverable state". Both flight recorders ceased to function when the 737 broke up in mid-air at 9,000 feet (2,700 m) above sea level.[1]

The NTSC determined that:

  1. Flight crew coordination was less than effective, as the pilot in command (PIC) did not manage task sharing and crew resource management practices were not followed.
  2. The crew focused their attention on troubleshooting the Inertial Reference System (IRS) failure and neither pilot was flying the aircraft.
  3. After the autopilot disengaged and the aircraft exceeded 30 degrees right bank, the pilots appeared to have become spatially disoriented.
  4. The Adam Air syllabus of pilot training did not cover complete or partial IRS failure.
  5. The pilots had not received training in Aircraft upset recovery, including spatial disorientation.[82]

Maintenance concerns

Investigators quickly became concerned about apparent poor maintenance and believed it might have been an important factor in the accident.

Adam Air

Adam Air's safety record, like that of a number of other Indonesian airlines at the time, has been heavily criticized. Adam Air has reportedly bullied pilots to fly planes they knew were unsafe.[83] Pilots have reported repeated and deliberate breaches of international safety regulations, and aircraft being flown in non-airworthy states (including one aircraft flying with a damaged door handle and another with a damaged window) for months. Other incidents include pilots being ordered to fly aircraft even after exceeding the take-off limit of five times per pilot per day, using spare parts from other planes to keep planes in the air, and ignoring requests not to take off due to unsafe aircraft. According to the Associated Press, one ex-Adam Air pilot stated that "every time you flew, you had to fight with the ground staff and the management about all the regulations you had to violate." Pilots also claimed that if they confronted their seniors, they were grounded or docked pay.[83][84]

Founder Adam Adhitya Suherman had personally denied the accusations, stating that maintenance had made up "40 percent of our total operational costs".[85]

Specific aircraft

Investigators discovered that the aircraft was the subject of a large number of maintenance discrepancies filed by pilots (called "write-ups" in the aviation industry). The highest number of complaints concerned the captain's side vertical speed indicator, which informs the air crew of the rate — in feet per minute (1 ft/min = 0.00508 m/s), metres per second, or knots (1 kn ≈ 0.514 m/s), depending on country and type of aircraft — at which the aircraft is ascending or descending. In all, 48 complaints were made regarding the instrument in the three months before the crash.[86] The aircraft's inertial navigation system, which informs pilots of their position, orientation, and velocity, was complained about a total of thirty times.[86] The International Herald Tribune reported that this may be of particular significance.[86] The third most-complained about instrument was a fuel differential light, which received fifteen write-ups.[86] Numerous complaints were also received about inoperative cockpit instrument lights, as well as multiple other malfunctions.[86] Several complaints were made that the flaps, which modify drag and lift during take-off and landing, were jamming at twenty-five degrees upon landing, and there were two complaints that the weather radar was faulty.[86]

Adam Air was sued by Indonesian consumer and labour groups over the accident, for a total of one trillion rupiahs (US$100 million), to be paid to the families of the victims.[87] According to a lawyer for the families, speaking in a press conference along with the secretary for the Adam Air KI-574 Passengers' Families Association (formed in the aftermath of the disaster), 30 of the victims' families intend to sue Boeing instead of Adam Air over the accident. This does not necessarily mean that all of the others will sue Adam Air, however, as they may not necessarily exercise their right to sue at all.[88][89] Representatives of the families have explained that they believe the plane was brought down by a faulty rudder control valve, similar to the accidents involving United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427, which went down in the early 1990s, although there is no evidence that proves this. They have explained that, as a result, they are suing Boeing and Parker Hannifin, the valve's manufacturer, although airlines using the 737-300, -400, and -500 have been warned about problems with the rudder control valves.

Reaction

Government

Vice-president Jusuf Kalla described the disappearance as an "international issue."[90] A few days after the disappearance, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono set up the National Team for Transportation Safety and Security, partially as a response to the high number of recent transportation accidents in Indonesia, and partially as a direct response to the event.[91] The team was tasked to evaluate thoroughly the transport safety procedures and review the existing regulations on transportation.[91] It was not, however, to investigate accidents; the entity deemed responsible for this was the Komisi Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT), or in English the National Transportation Safety Commission (NTSC), which is part of Departemen Perhubungan (Ministry of Transportation).[82]

Adam Air

Adam Air was accused by multiple organisations of poor maintenance, and of ordering pilots to fly in all weather and regardless of aircraft conditions. Adam Adhitya Suherman, founder of the family-run airline, has personally denied these accusations, and has said that maintenance consumes "up to 40 percent of our total operational costs".[85] Adam Air has compensated the families of deceased passengers Rp 500 million (equivalent to about US$55,000 or €42,000) per passenger. It also compensated families of the flight crew.[43][92]

There were calls from relatives of the dead for Adam Air to build a memorial to the victims in Makassar, South Sulawesi. Adam Air said that if an agreement could be reached, then they would fulfill the request.[93]

Aftermath

Shortly after the crash, Adam Air changed the number of the regular Surabaya–Manado flight from Flight 574 to Flight 582. This accident also weakened Adam Air's image, which at the time was already negative among the public because of their frequent breakdowns and delays. The crash also exacerbated financial difficulties at the airline, which ceased operations a few years later.

The Indonesian government announced plans immediately after the accident to ban jets over ten years old for any commercial purpose.[94] Previously the age limit was 35 years.[95] Although this was in response to a large number of aircraft accidents, it was mainly in response to this accident and the Flight 172 incident. Indonesia also announced that the Transportation Ministry would be reshuffled in response to this accident and the loss of the ferries MV Senopati Nusantara and Levina 1. Among those replaced were the directors of air and sea transports and the chairman of the National Committee for Transportation Safety.[96] Indonesia also introduced a new system of ranking airlines according to their safety record, with a level one ranking meaning the airline has no serious issues, a level two ranking meaning the airline must fix problems, and a level three ranking meaning that the airline may be forced to shut down.[97]

In March 2007, the Indonesian government announced that Adam Air was one of fifteen airlines that would have their licences revoked within three months unless they could improve their safety standards.[98][99] The other airlines included Batavia Air, Jatayu Airlines, Kartika Airlines, Manunggal Air Services, Transwisata Prima Aviation and Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines.[99] These airlines were all targeted as a direct result of the crash, as they were in the third level of the ranking system introduced as a result. All Indonesian airlines, including state-owned Garuda Indonesia, were told they would need to make some improvements, with none of them receiving a level one ranking.[100]

It was reported on 28 June 2007, that Adam Air would escape closure and had been upgraded one rank in safety rating, to the middle tier. The airlines that lost their licences were Jatayu Gelang Sejahtera, Aviasi Upataraksa, Alfa Trans Dirgantara, and Prodexim. Additionally, Germania Trisila Air, Atlas Delta Setia, Survey Udara Penas, Kura-Kura Aviation and Sabang Merauke Raya Air Charter were grounded pending improvements and facing potential licence revocation.[101]

On 16 April 2007, the American Federal Aviation Administration[102] responded to the results of the new airline survey by downgrading Indonesia's air safety oversight category from a 1 to a 2 because of "serious concerns" over safety. This means it views Indonesia's civil aviation authority as failing to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards.[103] As a direct result, the US Embassy in Jakarta issued a warning to all American citizens flying in or out of Indonesia to avoid using Indonesian airlines, and instead use international carriers with better safety reputations.[104] This was followed on 28 June 2007 by the addition of all Indonesia's airlines, none of which flew to Europe at the time, to the List of air carriers banned in the EU; the ban was lifted for flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and three smaller airlines in 2009,[105] and by 2018 all Indonesian airlines were once again permitted to fly to the EU.[106] Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, Director-general of civil aviation at the Indonesian transport ministry, responded by saying that he felt Indonesia had made the improvements required by the EU.[107][108] A blanket ban on all Indonesian airlines flying to the United States was imposed in 2007, and lifted in 2018.[109]

On 18 March 2008, shortly after a further accident in Batam, the airline's Air Operator's Certificate was suspended by the Indonesian government. Three months later, the air certificate was revoked, and the airline ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy.

Flight 172

On 21 February 2007, just 51 days after the loss of Flight 574, Flight 172, an Adam Air Boeing 737-300 aircraft (registration PK-KKV) flying from Jakarta to Surabaya had a hard landing at Juanda International Airport. The incident caused the fuselage of the plane to crack and bend in the middle, with the tail of the plane drooping towards the ground. There were no reports of serious injuries from the incident. As a result, six Adam Air 737s were grounded awaiting safety checks. Adam Air described this as "harsh punishment" for an accident it blamed on poor weather conditions, but Vice-president Kalla had said that all Boeing 737-300s should be checked.[110]

Alleged cockpit voice recording leakage

In early August 2008, a five-minute-38-second digital recording allegedly retrieved from the plane's cockpit voice recorder was widely circulated on the Internet and transcribed by the media.[111][112] The recording, which had been publicly distributed through chain e-mails, begins with what is believed by some to be a conversation between pilot Refi Agustian Widodo and co-pilot Yoga Susanto before the crash. Approximately two minutes before the end of the recording, the autopilot disconnect horn can be heard to sound, followed approximately a minute later by "bank angle" warnings from the GPWS and the altitude alerter. Immediately thereafter, as the aircraft begins its final dive, the shotgun-like sounds of engine compressor surges and the overspeed "clacker" can be heard, along with two background voices screaming in terror and shouting out the Takbir. Towards the end of the recording, there is a dramatic increase in windshield noise as well as two loud bangs, the second greater than the first, consistent with structural failure of the aircraft. This is followed 20 seconds later by abrupt silence. It is likely that, when the pilots regained visual ground contact, they quickly pulled up, overloading the horizontal stabiliser downwards and a main wing spar upwards.[113] This recording was dismissed by officials who said that it was not authentic and was not the original recording.[114]

Dramatization

The crash was featured in Season 7 of the documentary series Mayday, on the episode "Flight 574: Lost".

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Cities on Java island, including Surabaya, observe one hour difference with cities on Sulawesi islands (Western Indonesia Time and Central Indonesia Time respectively).
  2. ↑ Including two passengers with Indonesia-Portugal dual Citizenship
  3. ↑ An aeroplane has two ELTs: one, a portable unit, is located in the cockpit, emits on 121.5 MHz, and is activated by the plane ditching at sea; the other, a fixed ELT near the tail, emits on 406 MHz and is activated by a crash landing.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ionides, Nicholas (25 March 2008). "Final report: Adam Air 737 plunged into sea after pilots lost control". Flight International. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  2. ↑ https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20070101-0 Contains final report and probable causes Obtained 13 January 2019
  3. 1 2 "Plane Carrying 102 Missing in Indonesia". Forbes. 1 January 2007. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
  4. ↑ "Wreckage of plane found in Indonesian mountains". Indahnesia.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  5. ↑ "EU removes Indonesia's flag carrier Garuda from bloc's airline blacklist". Washington Examiner. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  6. ↑ "Nasib 96 Penumpang, Pilot dan Kru Tidak Diketahui". Kompas (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  7. ↑ Accident information : Boeing 737 AdamAir PK-KKW Archived 14 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine – airfleets.net. Retrieved 25 September 2007
  8. ↑ "AdamAir PK-KKW Airfleets". Airfleets. Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  9. 1 2 "Missing airliner not located: Indonesian officials". Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  10. ↑ "Now, search on for missing plane". Singapore: The Electric New Paper. Archived from the original on 9 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "BOEING 737-4Q8, PK-KKW, MAKASSAR STRAIT, SULAWESI, REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA 1 JANUARY 2007" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Committee. 25 March 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. 1 2 "Adam Air News Alert". Adam Air. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  14. ↑ "Three from Bend on plane that crashed in Indonesia". The Bend Bulletin. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  15. ↑ "Search on for Missing Indonesian Plane". Focus News Agency. 1 January 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
  16. ↑ "Flight missing in bad weather". Edmonton sun.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
  17. ↑ "Jatuhnya Pesawat Adam Air di Sulawesi Barat Adalah Akibat Cuaca Buruk" (in Indonesian). Adam Air. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2007.
  18. ↑ "President welcomes S'porean and US offer to help find missing Adam Air plane". ANTARA. 4 January 2004. Archived from the original on 13 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  19. ↑ "Lost plane 'battled 130 km/h winds'". CNN. 6 January 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
  20. ↑ "Missing Indonesian jet did not call for help". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  21. ↑ "Indonesian jet didn't send out distress signal". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  22. ↑ "Three Oregonians aboard Indonesian plane that vanished". 3 January 2007. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  23. 1 2 Ahmad Pathoni (7 January 2007). "Indonesia steps up search for missing plane". swissinfo. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
  24. ↑ "Singapore to help Indonesia locate missing Adam Air jet". Channel NewsAsia. 3 January 2007. Archived from the original on 17 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  25. ↑ "Kirim 2 Fokker, Singapura Siapkan Infra Red Cari AdamAir". Detik.com. 3 January 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  26. ↑ "Two mily planes help search for missing Adam Air". ANTARA. 3 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  27. ↑ "Search intensifies for missing Adam Air 737". Air Transport World Magazine. 4 January 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  28. ↑ "Cari Bangkai AdamAir, TNI AL Kerahkan KRI Bersonar" (in Indonesian). Detik.com. 4 January 2007. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  29. ↑ Unmanned undersea vehicle searching for missing Indonesian plane Archived 2 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Xinhua. Retrieved 16 January 2007
  30. 1 2 Ahmad Pathoni (3 January 2007). "Anger as Indonesia resumes search for airliner". Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  31. ↑ "Possible in-flight blast caused plane crash on land and sea". Asianews.it. Archived from the original on 22 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  32. ↑ "Bisa Jadi Pesawat AdamAir Meledak di Udara". Detik.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  33. ↑ "Pesawat Lion Air Terima Sinyal Bahaya di Laut Banda". Liputan 6 SCTV. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
  34. ↑ Indonesia Plane Crash Still A Mystery Archived 13 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine – AllHeadlineNews.com – Retrieved 17 January 2007
  35. ↑ "Ocean scoured for Indonesia jet". CNN. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  36. ↑ "Indonesia shifts search for missing plane after beacon signal". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
  37. ↑ "Daunting task as Indonesia steps up airliner search". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 9 January 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  38. ↑ Indonesia plane search narrows after debris found Archived 10 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 12 January 2007
  39. ↑ Singapore's Navy joins search for missing Indonesian airliner Archived 17 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Channel NewsAsia. Obtained on 16 January 2007.
  40. 1 2 Adam Air 737 Black Box Detected Archived 27 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Airwise Press Release – Obtained on 25 January 2007.
  41. 1 2 3 4 USNS Mary Sears, Search Team Return From Successful Mission In Indonesia. Retrieved 30 January 2007. Archived 10 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  42. ↑ British ship joins search of Indonesian plane Archived 14 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine – People's Daily Online – Obtained on 26 January 2007.
  43. 1 2 Lesson learned from accidents Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – The Jakarta Post – Obtained on 24 January 2007.
  44. ↑ Missing airliner's status is final, minister says Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – The Jakarta Post – Obtained on 10 February 2007.
  45. 1 2 "Airline hunt spots metal in sea". BBC. 8 January 2007. Archived from the original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  46. ↑ Indonesia: metal object detected during plane search Archived 2 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Xinhua. Retrieved 16 January 2007
  47. ↑ "Kanada Kirim Sebuah Pesawat Bantu Cari Adam Air". Media Indonesia. 9 January 2007. Archived from the original on 4 October 2007.
  48. 1 2 3 Technical help awaited as plane search continues – The Jakarta Post Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  49. ↑ Metal Detector Arrives To Help Locate Missing Indonesian Airplane Archived 12 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine – Playfuls.com – Retrieved 17 January 2007.
  50. ↑ Black Box Found From New Year's Day Plane Crash– KOIN News 6. Retrieved 25 January 2007. Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  51. ↑ "Tail of missing Indonesian plane found". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 January 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012.
  52. 1 2 3 4 5 Indonesia to DNA test human fragments in plane hunt – Boston.com – Obtained on 15 January 2007 Archived 25 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  53. ↑ Adam Air Plane Trail Found in Parepare Bay Archived 9 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine – AgoraVox – Obtained on 15 January 2007
  54. ↑ Pieces of missing plane found in Indonesian waters – KARE 11.com. Retrieved 11 January 2007
  55. ↑ "Parts of lost Indonesian jet found". Al Jazeera. 11 January 2007. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  56. ↑ Adam Air black box detected, search for plane slowed Archived 23 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine – e-Travel Blackboard – Press Release. Retrieved 29 January 2007
  57. ↑ Investigators say fuel spill may be from downed Indonesian jetliner Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. Retrieved 15 January 2007
  58. ↑ "SAR Team Stops Search For Adam Air Plane". Bernama.com.my. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  59. ↑ /Missing Adam Air Plane Blackbox Detected – Bernama.com- Obtained on 24 January 2007 Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  60. ↑ Families commemorate air accident dead at watery wreckage site Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – monstersandcritics.com. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  61. 1 2 "Experts say investigation into Indonesian plane crash important to global aviation safety". International Herald Tribune. 26 January 2007. Archived from the original on 26 February 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  62. ↑ Indonesian airline, government battle over retrieval of black box Archived 5 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine—monstersandcritics.com (news section)—Obtained on 26 January 2007.
  63. ↑ Indonesia Seeks Help To Retrieve Crashed Jetliner's "black Box"—Playfuls.com—Obtained 29 January 2007. Archived 10 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  64. ↑ "US can't help RI retrieve black box". The Jakarta Post. 1 February 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007.
  65. 1 2 Indonesia's aviation safety agency to publish preliminary report into New Year's Day Adam Air crash despite failure to locate black boxes Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Flightglobal. Retrieved 5 March 2007.
  66. ↑ Indonesia's Adam Air to continue expansion Archived 13 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
  67. ↑ Phoenix international details key role in locating lost Adam Air Flight 574 Archived 10 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine – shephard.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
  68. ↑ Adam Air To Retrieve Black Box From New Year's Day Crash Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Aero News. Retrieved 31 May 2007. Published 28 May 2007.
  69. ↑ Retrieval efforts to begin for blackbox of sunken Indonesian jetliner Archived 18 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine – International Herald Tribune – 23 August 2007 – Retrieved on the same date
  70. ↑ Ship arrives in Indonesia to seek plane's black box Archived 25 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Reuters – 23 August 2007 – Retrieved on the same date
  71. ↑ Crashed Adam Air black box arrives in Makassar Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – The Jakarta Post – 31 August 2007 – Obtained same date.
  72. ↑ Black box retrieved from crashed Indonesian plane – Reuters – 28 August 2007 – Retrieved on the same date Archived 20 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  73. ↑ Adam Air 737 recorders finally retrieved from seabed Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – by Flight Global's Nicholas Ionides – 28 August 2007 – Retrieved on the same date
  74. ↑ Black Box of New Year plane crash found Archived 2 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Asia News – 29 August 2007 – retrieved on the same date.
  75. ↑ Adam Air black box retrieved by salvage team Archived 25 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine – Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo – The Jakarta Post – 29 August 2007 – Obtained same date.
  76. ↑ Crashed jet's black box found Archived 30 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Stephen Fitzpatrick – The Australian – 29 August 2007 – Obtained same date
  77. ↑ "Missing Indonesian aircraft still missing despite claims of survivors" (Press release). e-Travel Blackboard. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2007.
  78. ↑ "Mountains searched for Indonesian aircraft". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  79. ↑ U.S. Aviation Experts Are Helping With the Investigation – KNX – Retrieved 7 January 2007. Archived 11 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  80. ↑ Wreckage of missing Indonesian plane found Archived 15 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine – The Brunei Times Obtained on 12 January 2007
  81. ↑ "Pilots blamed in Indonesian crash". BBC. 25 March 2008. Archived from the original on 26 March 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  82. 1 2 Komisi Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) official site Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
  83. 1 2 Falling skies for Indonesian aviation – Asia Times – Obtained on 27 January 2007.
  84. ↑ Pilots concerned over Indonesia airlines – phillbyblurbs.com. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  85. 1 2 "Adam Air denies cost-cutting measures". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2007.
  86. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Adam Air jet subject of pilot complaints before crash Archived 26 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine – International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
  87. ↑ "Indonesian airline hit with lawsuit over crash". The Australian. 10 January 2007. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  88. ↑ "Adam Air families to sue Boeing". The Jakarta Post. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
  89. ↑ PRESS DIGEST-Indonesian General News Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine – Reuters – Retrieved 7 February 2007.
  90. ↑ Missing airliner 'international issue': Indonesian VP – The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
  91. 1 2 President forms national team to evaluate transportation safety, security – ANTARA News. Retrieved 20 January 2007
  92. ↑ Indonesian airline to give US$55,000 to relatives of crash victims Archived 18 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine International Herald Tribune (Asia-Pacific section) – Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  93. ↑ "Relatives pay last respects in sea ritual". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  94. ↑ Plane ban after 'crack' landing Archived 24 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine – The Age. Retrieved 28 February 2007.
  95. ↑ "Indonesia eyes ageing planes". Television New Zealand. 28 February 2007. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  96. ↑ Indonesia plans to reshuffle transportation ministry after accident: paper Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine – People's Daily Online. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
  97. ↑ Indonesia may expand inspection of Boeing jets – Accident prompts scrutiny of 737-300s – Seattle Post-Intelligencer.nwsource.com. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
  98. ↑ Adam Air braces for possible closure after string of plane accidents Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
  99. 1 2 "Take These Chains and Set me Free". Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2007.
  100. ↑ "All 54 Indonesian airlines told to raise safety standards". The Brunei Times. 24 March 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2007.
  101. ↑ Safety concerns ground 9 Indonesian airlines Archived 8 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine – ABC News – 26 June 2007 – Retrieved 28 June 2007
  102. ↑ FAA IASA Program Archived 2 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  103. ↑ F.A.A. Downgrades Indonesian Air System Archived 24 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine – The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
  104. ↑ US Warns Against Flying Indonesian Airlines Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Aero-News – 21 April 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2007
  105. ↑ "EU lifts Indonesian airline ban". BBC News. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  106. ↑ "EU Lifts Ban on Flights by Indonesian Airlines". Flight Safety Foundation. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  107. ↑ EU bans 'unsafe' airlines from flights to the continent – The Guardian – 28 June 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2007
  108. ↑ EU bans all Indonesian airlines from its airspace – Reuters – 28 June 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2007
  109. ↑ "Indonesia airlines cleared to fly to United States". ABC News. Agence France-Presse. 15 August 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  110. ↑ Checks urged after passenger jet cracks on landing Archived 1 March 2007 at archive.today – stuff.co.nz – Published Saturday, 24 February 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
  111. ↑ "Okezone: Rekaman Kotak Hitam Pesawat Adam Air". Video.okezone.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  112. ↑ "RI may be in breach of ICAO regulation over 'Adam Air' recording". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  113. ↑ Widhi K, Nograhany (8 April 2008). "Detikcom: Rekaman Adam Air Dari Cockpit Bukan ATC" [Detikcom: Adam Air Records From Cockpit Not ATC]. detikcom (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  114. ↑ "Adam Air recording 'not original'". The Jakarta Post. 4 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.


Further reading

  • Cramoisi, George (2010). Air Crash Investigations: The Plane That Vanished, the Crash of Adam Air Flight 574. Manila: Mabuhay Publishing. ISBN 978-0-557-54189-8.
  • Dudi, Sudibyo; Handoyo, Singgih (2011). Aviapedia: Ensiklopedia Umum Penerbangan [Aviapedia: General Aviation Encyclopedia] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: PT Kompas Media Nusantara. ISBN 978-979-709-547-5.
External image
image icon Pre-accident pictures of the aircraft
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.