Boeing Plane That Crashed in Indonesia Didn't Fly for Nine Months
January 12 2021 - 4:49AM
Dow Jones News
By Jon Emont and Feliz Solomon
The Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea on Saturday
didn't fly for nearly nine months last year, with air travel
severely reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic, Indonesia's
transportation ministry said.
The Boeing Co. 737-500 was inspected and declared airworthy
before resuming flying operations, the ministry said.
The Indonesian carrier's aircraft carrying 62 people went down
minutes after taking off from the country's capital, Jakarta.
Divers and other crew are trying to retrieve the plane's black
boxes--the flight-data and cockpit voice recorders that can help
investigators piece together what caused the crash. Searchers have
encountered a series of challenges, including sharp and bulky
debris, and murky waters hampering visibility.
The plane had stopped operating in late March, weeks after
Indonesia announced its first Covid-19 case, the transportation
ministry said. The aircraft began flying again on Dec. 19, after
clearing an inspection by the ministry's Air Transportation
Directorate General, it said.
Its first flight after the long hiatus didn't carry passengers
and was noncommercial, the ministry said. The plane began flying
with passengers on Dec. 22, 2 1/2 weeks before the crash. The
aircraft's certificate of airworthiness from the transport ministry
is valid until Dec. 17, 2021, the ministry said.
The transportation ministry said it followed an airworthiness
directive issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration dated
July 24 that required operators of some Boeing flight models,
including the Boeing 737-500, to conduct an engine inspection
before flying. On Dec. 2, a little more than a month before the
crash, Indonesia's air inspector gave the plane an engine-corrosion
check.
Sriwijaya Air Chief Executive Jefferson Irwin Jauwena said
Tuesday that since March, Sriwijaya Air had undergone a security
and safety audit under the Basic Aviation Risk Standard program,
which is run by the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va. The
audits look at several aspects, including safety- and
quality-system management, manual operations, licensing, and
supervision of aircraft and spare parts, he said.
A spokeswoman for Sriwijaya Air didn't immediately respond to
requests for comment on whether the plane's prolonged inactivity
might have affected its flightworthiness and what maintenance was
undertaken when the plane resumed flights in December. The airline
said earlier that the plane was in good condition before the
crash.
"It's important that the full records be made public, to show
where it was serviced, when and by whom," said Shukor Yusof,
founder of Malaysia-based aviation consulting firm firm Endau
Analytics. "I'm not questioning the reliability of these documents,
but it would be really good if we could see a full list, a full
history of this aircraft."
Some experts around the world have raised concerns that the
lower frequency of air travel during the pandemic could impact air
safety. Chow Kok Wah, a Singapore-based aviation consultant, said
planes that have been grounded for longer periods than usual
require unique inspection protocols. Investigators might look for
explanations in the aircraft's maintenance records, he said.
Viriya Singgih contributed to this article.
Write to Jon Emont at jonathan.emont@wsj.com and Feliz Solomon
at feliz.solomon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2021 04:34 ET (09:34 GMT)
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