Adam Air Flight 172
| File:Adam air.jpg An Adam Air Boeing 737-400; the plane involved would have looked near-identical prior to the incident. | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 21 2007 |
| Summary | Structural failure upon landing |
| Site | Juanda International Airport |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-300 |
| Operator | Adam Air |
| Registration | PK-KKV |
| Passengers | 143 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | Only minor[1] |
| Survivors | 149 |
Adam Air Flight 172 was a serious incident involving a Boeing 737, registered PK-KKV, flying on a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Indonesia Between Jakarta and Surabaya.[1] On February 21, 2007, the plane bent on landing, with the fuselage cracking in the middle of the passenger section. All six of Adam Air's remaining 737s were immediately grounded, but five of them are currently back in regular service. This incident has caused further concerns regarding the safety of flights operated by Adam Air, which has received much criticism after the January 1, 2007 crash of Flight 574, although the cause of the incident is still under investigation.
Aircraft
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-300, registration PK-KKV, was acquired by Adam Air (the 10th airline to own the plane) in early-December 2006, having previously been owned by Brazilian Operator Varig. The aircraft was manufactured in 1994.[2]
Incident
The plane bent upon landing at Juanda International Airport, with the fuselage cracking in the middle of the passenger section. It was reported that the landing itself was particularly hard, with baggage being ejected from cabin lockers into the cabin space.[3] The tail section of the plane was bent down compared to the rest of the plane.[4] Subsequent flights to the airport were diverted to alternate airports.[5] The investigation into the cause of this accident is continuing, with Adam-Air's fleet of Boeing 737-300s grounded for safety inspections in the interim.[3][6] Immediately after the incident, Adam Air repainted the aircraft, hiding the original orange livery with a plain white exterior.[4] This is legally permissible, so long as no evidence is destroyed.[4] Also in the immediate aftermath, a large number of passengers cancelled their flights with Adam Air, saying they had "lost faith" in the airline. They were all refunded in full.[7][8]
Grounding of Adam Air's 737s
As a result, all six remaining Adam Air 737s were immediatly grounded awaiting safety checks. Adam Air decribed this as "harsh punishment" for an accident it blames on poor weather conditions causing a momentary loss of control, but Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said that all Boeing 737-300s should be checked.[5][3]He eventually decided the entire Indonesian fleet of 737s should be checked, but did not ground any more aircraft.[9] There were also suggestions that Adam Air should be suspended from all operations until the entire fleet could be checked, with MP Abdul Hakim saying "It will be good for the company and the government ... until the flight authorities can determine if Adam Air is still worthy as national aircraft company,".[10] The Indonesian Transport Ministry has said that if the aircraft show signs of problems, the checks will be expanded to cover all 737s currently operating in Indonesia.[11] On March 5 it was reported that five of the six aircraft have returned to normal operations, but the sixth is still undergoing a full maintenance overhaul at a maintenance, repair and overhaul firm GMF AeroAsia facility.[12] Adam Air had resumed an entirely normal schedule by March 9.[13]
Investigation
The incident is presently under investigation by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Commission (INTSC).[14] Investigators are currently compiling data from the Indonesian weather agency and from the air traffic control center in Surabaya in an attept to determin the cause, and have also interviewed the pilot.[1] Officials state the aircraft did pass safety checks prior to its departure.[1] Boeing has announced that they will also be providing technical assisstance to both the authorities and the airline during the course of the investigation.[11]
Maintenance concerns
The safety record of Adam Air has been heavily criticized, especially in the aftermath of Flight 574. Adam Air has reportedly bribed pilots to fly planes they knew were unsafe.[15] Pilots have reported repeated and deliberate breaches of international safety regulations, and aircraft being flown in non-airworthy states for months at a time. They claim that there have been such incidents as requests to sign documents to allow an aircraft to fly, while not having the authority to, and while knowing the plane to be not airworthy, flying a plane for several months with a damaged door handle, swapping parts between aircraft to avoid mandatory replacement deadlines, being ordered to fly aircraft after exceeding the take-off limit of five times per pilot per day, flying an aircraft with a damaged window, using spare parts from other aircraft to keep planes in the air and ignorance of pilot's requests not to take off due to unsafe aircraft. The Associated Press quotes one pilot as saying that "Every time you flew, you had to fight with the ground staff and the management about all the regulations you had to violate." They also claim that if pilots confronted their seniors in the airline, they were grounded or docked pay.[16][15]
Aftermath
Even though the accident remains under investigation, the Indonesian government announced plans immediately after the accident to ban jets over ten years of age for any commercial purpose.[17] The age limit is currently 35 years or 70,000 landings.[18] Although this is in response to a large number of aircraft accidents, it is mainly in response to this accident and the loss of Flight 574. Indonesia has also announced plans to reshuffle the Transportation Ministry in response to this incident, Flight 574 and the loss of the ferries MV Senopati Nusantara and Levina 1. Among those to be replaced are the directors of air and sea transports and the chairman of the National Committee for Transportation Safety.[19] Indonesia also intends to introduce 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 rating forcing the airline to be shut down.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Indonesia Grounds Airplanes After Latest Air Mishap - MND - Obtained March 1, 2007.
- ^ Adam Air PK-KKV (Airfleets). Accessed February 24, 2007.
- ^ a b c Indonesia 'Grounds' Adam Air Jets accessed on February 24th 2007.
- ^ a b c Adam Air paints its ill-fated plane - The Jakarta Post - Obtained February 28, 2007.
- ^ a b Checks urged after passenger jet cracks on landing - stuff.co.nz - Published Saturday, 24 February 2007 - Obtained 25th Feb. 2007.
- ^ Adam Air plane breaks upon landing in Surabaya accessed on February 24th 2007.
- ^ Airline grounded after plane cracks - The Sydney Morning Herald - Obtained March 1, 2007.
- ^ Adam Air passengers ask for money back - The Jakarta Post - Obtained March 1, 2007.
- ^ Mystery crash sparked air safety fears - MSN - Obtained March 7, 2007.
- ^ Indonesia Grounds Adam Air's B737s After Buckling Incident - Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) article - Obtained February 28, 2007.
- ^ a b c Indonesia may expand inspection of Boeing jets - Accident prompts scrutiny of 737-300s - seattlepi.nwsource.com - Obtained March 1, 2007.
- ^ Indonesia's aviation safety agency to publish preliminary report into New Year's Day Adam Air crash despite failure to locate black boxes - www.flightglobal.com - Obtained March 5, 2007.
- ^ This is based on Adam Air's website, which does not indicate that any routes are affected by any kind of delay, service limitation or cancelation.
- ^ Indonesia's DGAC grounds Adam Air 737-300 fleet after latest accident - Flight - Obtained February 28, 2007.
- ^ a b Falling skies for Indonesian aviation - Asia Times - Obtained on January 27, 2007.
- ^ Pilots concerned over Indonesia airlines - phillbyblurbs.com - Obtained January 27, 2007.
- ^ Plane ban after 'crack' landing - www.theage.com - Obtained February 28, 2007.
- ^ Indonesia eyes ageing planes - tvnz.co.nz - Obtained March 1, 2007.
- ^ Indonesia plans to reshuffle transportation ministry after accident: paper - People's Daily Online - Obtained March 1, 2007.