Aviation:AdamAir loses operating rights

[numpty]

I was reading in Tempo that a new airport is being built in Deli Serdang to replace medan s Polonia and that a rail link is being added

Anyone know more about this???

[jpatokal]

It's been planned for ages, but evidently things were sped up a little after that Mandala 737 bellyflopped into the slums right off Polonia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala_Airlines_Flight_091), and a little Googling reveals that they've actually started building it now:

http://www.planetmole.org/06-07/new-airport-under-construction-medan-sumatra.html

Here's some more info from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Namu_International_Airport). It's scheduled to be complete in 2009.

[GWR]

Airplane lands safely after part of wing breaks away

JAKARTA (JP): A Batavia Air aircraft was forced to return to the airport in Jakarta on Thursday after a 2-meter-long piece of its wing broke away minutes after takeoff.

There were no reports of injuries in the incident.

Batavia Air spokesman Anton Situmeang said an investigation into the incident would be conducted as the plane had just undergone a full service one or two months ago.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071122165252&irec=1

Pieces of plane's wing found in Sepatan

TANGERANG, Banten (JP): Residents of Gempol Sari village in East Sepatan district, Tangerang regency claimed Thursday to have found pieces of an airplane wing that fell from an aircraft.

The largest piece of the falling objects was said to hit the roof of a local resident's house on Wednesday evening, causing a little damage to house.

"I and my family were watching TV when we heard noisy sound of a falling object. Luckily, it did not hit us," Aat Supiadi, one of the locals said.

He said five other pieces of similar objects, measuring almost two meters by 40 centimeters were also found by other residents in several rice fields not far from his house.

Aat and his neighbors then reported and handed down the pieces of the fiber objects to the Sepatan police station, which later sent the objects to the airport police headquarters for investigation. (Multa Fidrus
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071122204908&irec=0#

[GWR]

Fire destroys large part of busy Indonesian airport

JAKARTA (AP): Domestic flights resumed at one of Indonesia's busiest airports Sunday after a fire destroyed the terminal and left one person injured, an official said.

Polonia Airport is located in Indonesia's third-largest city, Medan, the regional capital of Sumatra island. It handles about 4.5 million passengers a year and has been criticized in the past for reportedly operating far beyond its capacity.

The cause of the fire, which broke out late Saturday, was believed to be a short circuit on the domestic terminal's second floor, North Sumatra police chief Maj. Gen. Nurudin Usman told reporters. Forensic teams were investigating.

The main terminal was closed "because almost all of the infrastructure was razed," said Yuli Sudoso, the top airport administrator, adding that one firefighter was hospitalized for burns.

Tents were set up for check-in and boarding and domestic flights were running with delays from the international terminal and a nearby air force base, Sudoso said.

Air travel is a major form of domestic transportation in Indonesia, a sprawling nation of 235 million people spread over 17,500 tropical islands.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071202153234&irec=2

Polonia airport to continue flying after fire

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The Polonia airport authority in Medan, North Sumatra, announced Sunday it would continue to serve passengers after a fire the previous day destroyed the domestic terminal.

The fire started about 8:45 p.m. and swept through the entire terminal. No deaths have been reported, but one firefighter sustained serious injuries while battling the blaze.

The decision to continue with services was made during a closed-door meeting led by North Sumatra Governor Rudolf Pardede early Sunday morning.

Rudolf said domestic flight departure services would be moved to the nearby Air Force base, Polonia airport's VIP room and the Medan office of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Acting head state-owned Angkasa Pura II, which manages Polonia airport, Poniran M. Abdi, said services for domestic flights had to be transferred from the gutted terminal to other sites.

"Under the current emergency conditions, we hope all passengers who already bought tickets can be accommodated even though there are lots of schedule changes," Poniran told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

There was confusion among passengers Sunday as they waited, often for hours, to be told their departure time and location.

Syaukani, a passenger from Aceh, said he had already been waiting for more than two hours in front of the Polonia VIP room, but still there was no assurance as to when he would fly.

"I'm tired and disappointed, but I can't do anything because this is an emergency situation. I hope the government will deal with it as soon as possible," he said.

Governor Rudolf said it would take more than three months to repair the damage to the domestic terminal.

At least 18 fire engines were deployed to the scene, but firefighters had trouble dealing with the blaze because a number of hydrants were not working.

Deputy head of the North Sumatra Police criminal division, Adj. Sr. Comr. Darmawan Sutawijaya, said that based on preliminary investigations the fire was believed to have been started by an exploding voltage regulator.

Several witnesses said they heard an explosion and saw a blaze in a corridor between the transit lounge and the Garuda Indonesia customer service room, on the second floor of the terminal.

Darmawan said six forensic officers from the National Police in Jakarta were in Medan and helping to determine the cause of the fire.

He said there was a problem with a voltage regulator at the airport three months ago, but did not provide details.

Officials estimate Saturday's fire caused billions of rupiah worth of damage.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20071203.A02&irec=1

[jpatokal]

The crazy thing is that this is the second fire to hit Polonia -- a few years back, a fire destroyed much of the international terminal. Local newspapers reported that the terminal's fire protection systems didn't seem to work and it took a few hours (!) until the fire department showed up, so in 3.5 hours, the terminal was basically gone.

[GWR]

Polonia airport in Medan threatened to be closed

Jakarta, Dec 3 (ANTARA) - The Transportation Ministry will close Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, if the investigation team finds that the airport's security management was bad.

"If we consider that the airport is no longer worth, we can shut it down," Land Transportation Director General Budhi Muliawan Suyitno said here Sunday in connection with the fire at the Polonia airport's departure terminal on Saturday (Dec 1).

The Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA)'s Secretary General Tengku Burhanuddin said earlier that the accident has worsened the Indonesian image in the eyes of the international world.

"The airport which went up in flames, shows its safety management is poor. Thus, the Indonesian image has worsened amid the European Union (EU)'s flight ban (on Indonesia)," Tengku said.

Budi said the ministry has deployed a team to examine the condition of the Polonia airport following the fire.

Budi said the team would also ask for explanation about the safety and security system applied by the Polonia airport management.

"Indeed, we did not stop the operation of the airport as passenger departures and arrivals can be handled at the arrival terminal," he said.

Budhi further said that the government has also issued a 'notice to airmen' to pilots on the condition at the Polonia airport.

ANTARA noted the Polonia airport was one of five international airports which had been audited by the government in June 2007.

In the audit, the government had evaluated the aspects of safety, security and services.

According to the audit results, the government found that the control of safety and security at the five international airports was still inadequate as the procedures of handling hazardous substances were not optimal and their security planning was also inadequate. (ANTARA)
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=1611

[GWR]

Chunk of jetliner wing found on Indonesian runway

JAKARTA (AP): Workers found a piece of a wing from a passenger jet on the runway at Indonesia's main airport and investigators are trying to determine which plane it fell from, officials said Wednesday.

The 10-foot (3-meter) piece of wing was found Tuesday at Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta international airport, said Yurlis Hasibuan, a senior air transportation official.

"It has been identified as a side engine cover, but we do not yet know which plane it came from," he said.

The wing piece was found on a runway used by planes on domestic flights as well as some cargo planes flying internationally, he said.

Last month, a similar-sized piece of wing fell from a jetliner minutes after it took off from the same airport.

The Boeing 737, which was operated by a local airline, landed safely but the incident added to safety concerns about commercial aviation in Indonesia.

The country suffered a series of accidents earlier this year that killed more than 120 people, leading the European Union to ban all the country's airlines from landing there.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the nation's rating to its lowest category.

Experts say the industry is plagued by poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of trained professionals.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071205153341&irec=1

[GWR]

Interesting that this article also mentions the construction of a new Medan International Airport:

Police question dismissed airport manager over fire

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Police Wednesday questioned the recently dismissed acting branch head of the Polonia Airport in Medan, Zulkifli Moeslim, in connection with the fire that broke out in the domestic terminal on Dec. 1.

Police have also questioned three people who were working as heads of Polonia's operational, administration and technical divisions.

Medan city police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Soekamto said all four were responsible for the airport's daily logistics and were being questioned as witnesses.

"We have not yet named a suspect in the case," Bambang told reporters at city police headquarters in Medan on Wednesday.

Bambang said police would investigate the case carefully because of the intensity of the blaze and because the fire had attracted "wide public attention".

"Many people have asked why an important airport such as Polonia could easily caught fire.

"This has to be thoroughly explained because it had caught fire twice," Bambang said.

Zulkifli told reporters police had asked several questions, including flight vocabulary, safety and airport facilities.

Zulkifli said he was off duty when the fire occurred.

"The fire took place at night, when I was not on duty because I was out relaxing with my friends," said Zulkifli after he was questioned by police on Wednesday.

He said he had only been appointed for three days by PT Angkasa Pura II state airport management company as acting branch manager of Medan's Polonia Airport.

He was replaced by Alexius Kismoyo, who was operational and technical manager previously at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta.

Zulkifli said despite his dismissal, he had been "working at his best over the past three days" as acting branch head of the airport.

"The most demanding job was handling people's complaint," he said

"Many people had complained to me about bad services and security at the airport," Zulkifli said.

PT Angkasa Pura II operational head I Made Dhordy said the replacement of the head of the Polonia Airport in Medan was a normal procedure.

"It's a normal procedure, and it is not connected to the fire," Dhordy told The Jakarta Post at the airport.

He said his office had placed high hopes on the newly-appointed official so he could straighten out the airport, including rebuilding the gutted terminal as soon as possible.

Dhordy said PT Angkasa Pura would "work all-out" to restore the domestic terminal before the new airport in Kuala Namu, Deli Serdang regency, was completed.

"The terminal building which we will restore is 80,000 square meters.

"We estimate it would cost Rp 40 billion to renovate it," Dhordy said.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20071206.A05&irec=4

[GWR]

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071205153341&irec=1

2007-12-06 17:30:08
Piece of wing found on Indonesian runway traced to budget airline
Authorities have traced a piece of an airplane wing found on a runway at Indonesia's largest airport to a passenger jet operated by budget carrier Lion Air, the transport ministry said Thursday.

Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said the Boeing MD-90 had been grounded and authorities were investigating how and when the piece fell off.

Workers found the engine casing, which Ervan said was "several feet" in length, at Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta airport on Tuesday.

Lion Air representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Last month, a similar-sized piece of wing fell from a jetliner minutes after it took off from the same airport. The Boeing 737, which was operated by a local airline, landed safely but the incident added to safety concerns about commercial aviation in Indonesia.

The country suffered a series of accidents earlier this year that killed more than 120 people, leading the European Union to ban all the country's airlines from landing there.

Experts say the industry is plagued by poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of trained professionals.


http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=184601

[GWR]

Three airlines suspected of losing engine cap on strip

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Soekarno-Hatta international airport management said the engine cap that fell on its runway last Tuesday might belong to one of three airline companies, but none had reported a missing part.

Head of the airport administration bureau Herry Bakti said the cap belonged to one of three McDouglas MD-90 airplanes currently being operated by Batavia Air, Lion Air and Mandala.

"We can't confirm which of the three companies has the engine cap," Herry said.

"We will summon them on Friday for further questioning."

A watchtower officer found the three-meter ring-exhaust engine cap on the side of the runway near the international departure terminal Tuesday morning.

Various media reports on Thursday said the cap belonged to Lion Air. On Tuesday morning Lion had an airplane registered as PK-LIL-625 with 100 people traveling from Jakarta to Balikpapan under flight number of 766.

No airline had confirmed any losses on Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, parts of a Batavia Air craft landed in Gempol Sari village in Tangerang regency.

That airplane was scheduled to fly to Pontianak but was delayed in the air for hours before it landed at the international airport.

Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said these kinds of incidents were serious and said he had instructed the National Committee for Air Transportation safety (KNKT) to investigate both matters further.

"A flying airplane cannot lose parts of (its) craft, especially (an) engine cap, because it would expose wind ... and cause problems with the engine," he told Antara.

Jusman said his office would impose a safety management system next year to avoid further incidents.

The new system, he said, would require airline companies to report any incidents or findings during their operations.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20071207.B09&irec=8

[jpatokal]

The most scarily overblown official airline site I've ever seen:

http://www.trimgairlines.com/

Turn up your speakers, touch down to "About Us" and enjoy the Massage from the President Commissioner :D

[GWR]

Air Force Land dispute cripples Polonia Airport

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Polonia Airport in Medan was paralyzed for almost three hours Monday when thousands of protesters staged a rally and blockaded the airport's entryway.

The protest, which involved more than 5,000 residents of Sari Rejo subdistrict, was peaceful, but airport authorities were forced to cancel a number of flights because crew members were unable to get through the blockade, while arriving passengers had a long wait to leave the airport.

Airport security deputy chief B. Sinaga confirmed the incident had disrupted airport activities and had caused flight delays because the crowd had prevented passengers from coming in.

The protest, involving members of the Sari Rejo People's Forum, also blocked a number of transportation routes to the airport.

A demonstrator, Dedi Pariadi, 36, said the protest was aimed at paralyzing the airport. He added that around 5,000 Sari Rejo residents were mobilized to take part in the rally, using 12 buses, 23 trucks, 25 private cars and 500 motorbikes.

"We intentionally assembled a large crowd because we want to paralyze the airport. This way, we can draw the attention of the provincial administration and central government because Sari Rejo residents are currently defending their rights to a 260-hectare plot of land which the Air Force wants to take over," Dedi told The Jakarta Post.

Dedi said that four months ago, the Air Force pressured the residents to give up the land they lived on, claiming it belonged to the Air Force.

The Air Force also recently prohibited state electricity company PLN, state tap water company PDAM and state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom from serving residents in the area, according to a letter dated Nov. 15, 2007, and signed by Medan Air Force base commander Col. Agus Dwi Putranto.

"This is far too much because people have the right to water and electricity, as is stipulated in the 1945 Constitution. This is a form of intimidation committed by the Air Force, which indirectly wishes us to leave. The land we are occupying now is ours because we have been living here for dozens of years," said Dedi.

Another protester, Pahala Napitupulu, said the land on which residents had living was not disputed, according to a decision by the Supreme Court.

"In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled that the land was owned by the residents. The problem is, the National Land Agency (BPN) has not yet issued a certificate for the land," said Pahala.

Pahala said 1,300 ha of land around the airport had been disputed previously, but residents were later entitled to the 260 ha of the land they lived on while the remaining area was designated Air Force property.

"The Air Force has sold most of the land to third parties to develop exclusive real estate. We heard that the residents' land will also make way for upscale housing," said Pahala.

Air base commander Col. Agus confirmed the rumor, saying that the land currently occupied by the residents was an Air Force asset that had been inherited from the Dutch administration by the state now.

Agus said the Supreme Court had ruled the residents were only entitled to 5.6 ha.

"They are twisting the facts. The Supreme Court ruling authorized only 87 residents over a 5.6 ha plot which we no longer dispute because it is under the ownership of the people and received BPN certification," Agus told the Post on Monday.

Agus described the letter ordering electricity and water supplies to the area be cut as "just a request" and said it was not intended to restrict the rights of the residents.

"It's just a request. If PLN, PDAM and Telkom want to provide services to Sari Rejo residents, please do so, because there's no restriction," said Agus.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20080108.A05&irec=4

[jpatokal]

International Herald Tribune (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/18/asia/AS-GEN-Indonesia-Airline-Shut.php):

Indonesia's beleaguered low-cost carrier Adam Air has been grounded over safety concerns, the head of air transportation said Tuesday.

The carrier has had a string of accidents over the last two years and is on the verge of bankruptcy after two of its largest shareholders announced plans to pull out. It has recently sliced its number of routes from 52 to 12.

The carrier began operations in 2003 and at its peak had 22 aircraft that flew across Indonesia and daily to Singapore and Malaysia. But accidents and financial problems have recently plagued the airline, one of a surge in carriers in Indonesia over the last 10 years.

Last year, one of its jetliners plunged into the sea from 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), killing all 102 people on board. Another plane broke in half on a hard landing. And last week, a Boeing 737-400 skidded off a runway, injuring five people and badly damaging the aircraft. [...]

Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, director general for air transportation, said the airline would stop flying as of Wednesday. [...]

An investigation into last week's accident showed "the pilot had no idea what to do in an emergency situation," he said. [...]

Founder Adam Suherman, whose family owns a 50 percent stake in the company, said he was not surprised by the decision.

It came less than 24 hours after Global Transport Service and Bright Star Perkasa — the two companies that together control the remaining 50 percent stake — said they were selling their shares back to the owner. They cited financial mismanagement.

Scuttlebutt says that Adam Air actually quietly notified its partners that it would cease operations several hours before the DGAC announcement, meaning that they actually stopped for financial reasons, and DGAC is just trying to use this as an opportunity to show how tough they are on airlines. :mad:

[jpatokal]

A PPrune thread discussing the "runway excursion" in Batam last week:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=317355

http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/esteri/indonesia-aereo/ap124607341003121750_big.jpg
http://www.indoflyer.net/forum/upfiles/95/24330DEF23DD4DF8B12AEDEC45755560.jpg

And a funny-if-it-wasn't-true YouTube video filmed from inside the plane while they were trying to evacuate it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YK136amZYI

I sure wouldn't want those three jokers doing the evacuation in a real emergency... :eek:

[GWR]

Thursday, March 20, 2008 11:16 PM
Troubled Adam Air loses operating rights

Novia D. Rulistia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 03/19/2008 12:21 AM

The financial troubles of PT Adam Skyconnection Airlines (Adam Air) climaxed Tuesday with airline regulators revoking the company's operating certificate as of Wednesday.

"With this I revoke Adam Air's operating certificate. Adam Air is no longer allowed to operate its planes," the Transportation Ministry's director general for air transportation, Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, said at a press conference in Jakarta.

According to regulations, the company now has three months to address its internal problems before its Aircraft Operator Certificate is permanently revoked.

Responding to the decision, Adam Air president director Adam Aditya Suherman said the airline was working to address its financial problems. He also confirmed that all operations had been shut down as of Tuesday morning.

"Our employees are deeply demoralized now. So, I suppose, this decision is in the best interest of everyone," he said.

Earlier this week, PT Bhakti Investama, which owns 19 percent of Adam Air through its unit PT Global Transport Services (GTS), and the Bright Star Perkasa business consortium, which holds a 31 percent stake, announced they were pulling out of Adam Air and selling their stakes to the airline's founder Suherman and Sandra Ang.

Bhakti Investama president director Hary Djaja said the investment company would protect the interests of its public shareholders should its investment through GTS in Adam Air cause any losses.

Hary said his firm decided to pull out of Adam Air after claims by Bhakti Investama's legal adviser, Hotman Paris Hutapea, that Adam Air's management had misused internal funds totaling Rp 2.1 trillion.

Hotman also said potential losses suffered by the government related to loans from state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia reached Rp 50 billion.

Hotman said his clients planned to report the misuse of funds to the Corruption Eradication Commission if the airline refused to be transparent in its financial reports, especially regarding cargo and ticket sales.

Suherman and Sandra Ang, who hold the remaining 50 percent stake in the airline, plan to buy the stake from Bhakti for Rp 100 billion in September, Hotman said.

Adam refuted Hotman's statement, saying Suherman and Sandra had not accepted the offer and that no notification had been delivered to the airline's management.

Also Tuesday, dozens of college students protested the cancellation of Adam Air flights at Soekarno-Hatta airport, Tangerang.

"We were informed of the cancellation only five minutes before the scheduled departure," one of the students, Mia Kurnaedi, 23, said as quoted by Antara news agency.

She said a group of students from Bandung, Makassar and Kalimantan were scheduled to fly to Batam aboard an Adam Air flight.

Another passenger, Hasaniah, 58, said she bought a ticket for an Adam Air flight from Jakarta to Surabaya for Rp 500,000, but was only refunded Rp 290,000 when the flight was canceled. (lva)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/03/18/troubled-adam-air-loses-operating-rights.html

[airlana]

Whilst on the subject of Adam Air, the FINAL REPORT has just been released on the fatal loss of their Boeing 737 on 1st Jan 2007 over the Makassar Strait enroute from Surabaya to Manado.

Faulty navigation systems on the aircraft, inadequate pilot training and airline negligence - all in all an accident that never should have happened.

Summary here
http://www.atsb.gov.au:80/publications/investigation_reports/2007/AAIR/aair20080136.aspx
the link for the complete report in PDF is at bottom of page
.

[jpatokal]

Faulty navigation systems on the aircraft, inadequate pilot training and airline negligence - all in all an accident that never should have happened.
To summarize, what seems to have happened is that there was an issue in the inertial reference system, causing the autopilot to disengage (or, alternatively, that the pilots themselves caused it to disengage while debugging the IRS). In either case, the pilots didn't realize that the autopilot was no longer active, the aircraft started to bank right (because the autopilot wasn't correcting the motion), and by the time the pilots finally realized what was happening, it was too late and/or they didn't know how to correct the situation. :(

[Yappofloyd]

So in layperson terms, pilot error? Due to poor training and possibly inadequate procedures by Adam Air in their manual to deal with such a situation?

[jpatokal]

So in layperson terms, pilot error? Due to poor training and possibly inadequate procedures by Adam Air in their manual to deal with such a situation?
Well, pilot error is an incredibly vague term... but they had a non-fatal mechanical failure, and then the pilots reacted incorrectly and made it fatal.

[GWR]

April 10, 2008 21:31 PM
Indonesia Officially Revokes Adam Air's Flight Permit

JAKARTA, April 10 (Bernama) -- Indonesia as of Wednesday officially revoked domestic airline company Adam Air`s flight permit (AOC) for 21 routes.

"The Air of Certificate (AOC) for all of Adam Air's routes is automatically revoked as of today after the domestic airline failed to operate for 21 days," Indonesian Transportation Minister Jusman Safii Djamal was quoted saying by Antara news agency Thursday.

The minister said the AOC would be offered to other airlines which met the requirements.

Previously, Air Transportation Director General Tri Sunoko said he was ready to revoke Adam Air's permit for all 21 flight routes if it did not serve the routes for 21 consecutive days.

He said that with 21 routes, Adam Air had a big flight frequency per week, namely 490 domestic flights and 42 overseas flights.

He said if in the future Adam Air was able to operate again, it had to obtain a new air of certificate.

Adam Air's passengers in 2007 were recorded at 5.2 million on domestic flights and 120,618 on international ones, with a fleet of 22 aircraft, mostly Boeings.

-- BERNAMA

Non-specific link
http://www.bernama.com.my/