Indonesia and Russia Teams Collaborate To Investigate Sukhoi Accident

Indonesia’s National Committee for Transportation Safety said it could take up to a year to investigate the flight recorder of the ill-fated Sukhoi Super Jet 100 manufactured by Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft that crashed on Mount Salak in West Java last week. It was on a demonstrational flight in Jakarta when it suddenly went missing from radars. The flight was part of six-countries Asian road show meant to showcase the plane’s capabilities to prospective buyers. At least 45 people were reportedly aboard the plane when it crashed. None survived. The search and rescue team has sent 27 bodybags from the crash site to National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.

Tatang Kurniadi, head of the committee known as KNKT, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the long wait time was business as usual for investigating flight recorders of crashed planes.

“Four months is the fastest, but you can’t even expect [the probe] to be completed that fast, otherwise Indonesia’s reputation will be damaged [because the results might be unreliable],” Tatang said.

He added that the search and rescue team was still looking for the flight recorder, known as a “black box,” among the debris of the plane on the slopes of Mount Salak. The black box contains recordings of in-flight conversations between the Sukhoi’s crew members and air traffic control officers, which are expected to illuminate the cause of the accident.

Russian officials have requested that the black box, once found, be sent to Russia. Indonesian authorities, however, turned down the request, saying the black box will be probed in Indonesia to ensure “transparency” and “credibility,” according to vice presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat.

Russian teams will have their movements limited in the investigation into a Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash, with the Indonesian government taking control, says vice presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat.

He said on Monday that the Russian delegation comprised three teams: one to help search for and evacuate victims and wreckage, one to help identify the victims and one to help investigate the accident.

“All of these teams are under the coordination of relevant institutions of Indonesia,” he told a press conference at the Vice President’s office after Vice President Boediono met representatives of the Russian teams.

The first team will work under the auspices of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the second under the National Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit and the third under the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), he said.

Among those present at the meeting were Boediono, Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono, secretary to the Vice President Mohamad Oemar, the Transportation Ministry’s director general for air transportation Herry Bhakti Gumay, Mikhail Pogosyan, the head of the United Aircraft Corporation – which fully owns the Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company – Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Yuri Slyusar, who heads the Russian teams, and Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Alexander A. Ivanov.

The 30-minute meeting was closed to the press and the Russians left the building without making a statement to the journalists. Yopie said the meeting was merely a courtesy call initiated by the Russian side and did not delve into technical issues.

“The Vice President said that both Russia and Indonesia agreed to push for a credible and transparent investigation into this crash as soon as possible,” Yopie said.

“The Vice President also reiterated that the good Russia-Indonesia relations will remain [intact] despite the crash,” he added.

Yopie also said the Russian teams had not met any difficulties in carrying out their tasks in Indonesia.

“[The Russian representatives] said they were grateful for the good cooperation provided by Indonesian officers in the field,” he said.

On Saturday, two Russia-made Ilyushin IL-76TD cargo planes carrying the Russian teams and disaster relief equipment arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta. The teams comprise 68 personnel including rescue and missions specialists and psychologists for the victims’ relatives.

The disaster relief equipment included a BO-105 helicopter and a BK-117 helicopter. The helicopters arrived on Monday at the search and rescue command post in Cijeruk, West Java, to assist with the recovery of the remains of the plane crash victims. TOT News