Another aircraft has crashed in Indonesia, and the timing could not be worse.The Aviastar Airlines' de Havilland Canada Twin Otter cargo aircraft was found yesterday morning and all three crew are believed to be dead. An Aviastar British Aerospace 146-300 crashed in April as well, but the airline will continue with its operations after buying a BAe 146-200 that will arrive on 10 July. It also has three other Twin Otters in service.
There are dozens of small operators like them in Indonesia, and they will be under the spotlight this week. The European Commission banned Indonesian carriers from flying to Europe last year after a string of accidents involving them, and amid worries about the maintenance and safety records of Indonesian airlines.
Indonesian regulators are meeting the EU officials this week to show them how they have tried to improve their safety records, and there are hopes that the Europeans will lift the ban on four airlines - Airfast Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Premiair.
The problem, however, is that it can be difficult to get a handle on all of the airlines in Indonesia. From what we can see, there are almost 40 operators in the market.
Until the Indonesian authorities begin to have an effective method of having regular and stringent checks on all of their airlines, and especially smaller ones like Aviastar, there will continue to be doubts about their carriers.
on July 9, 2009 11:04 PM | Reply
How can airlines like these continue to operate? There clearly is a lack of respect for human life. It is just ridiculous.