Copilot Also Ignored Procedures, Did Not Take Control

The singing pilot of an ill-fated Garuda flight that crashed in Indonesia, killing 21 people, ignored as many as 15 inflight alarms on the descent to landing.

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) reported details of the flight, and has made a series of recommendations following its investigation of the March 7 crash. The report says the pilot continued with his unstable landing approach at excessively high speed and steep descent.

As ANN reported, the plane overran the runway in Yogyakarta, central Java, exploded into flames in a rice paddy field over 800 feet from the runway.

The report is based on data obtained through analysis of the plane's flight data recorders. It found the pilot was "singing" during the approach, below 10,000 feet and prior to reaching 4,000 feet, which was "not in accordance with the Garuda Basic Operations Manual policy for a sterile cockpit below 10,000 feet," according to Theage.com.

"The pilot was probably emotionally aroused because his conscious awareness moved from the relaxed mode "singing" to the heightened stressfulness of the desire to reach the runway by making an excessively steep and fast, unstable approach," the report said.

The pilot, who was uninjured, later "fixated" on landing the aircraft, ignoring loud alarms in the cockpit and two calls from his copilot to abort the landing, the report said.

The pilot acknowledged there was emergency by saying, "Oh, there is something not right", the report said. The pilot also earlier indicated there was a need to conserve fuel, as ANN reported.

"The pilot in command's intention to continue to land the aircraft, from an excessively high and fast approach, was a sign that his attention was channeled during a stressful time," the report said, adding the copilot failed to take the aircraft's controls when the pilot ignored the warnings.

Airlines records showed no evidence the company provided simulator training for flight crews covering required responses to the warning sirens.

The report also said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's surveillance of Garuda had failed to identify safety deficiencies and that authorities had only checked the plane's safety and airworthiness twice in the past ten years.

Additionally the airport did not meet international runway standards, and its rescue and firefighting vehicles were ill-equipped and unable to reach the crash site, which may have "significantly reduced survivability," according to the report.

The resulting fire was not fully extinguished for over two hours, the report stated.

FMI: www.garuda-indonesia.com/, www.dephub.go.id/knkt/ntsc_home/ntsc.htm