-Kelly-

Garuda crash black box to be sent here

By Karen Michelmore and Olivia Rondonuwu

March 08, 2007 04:01pm

THE black box from Garuda Airlines flight GA200 had been recovered and would be sent to Australia for analysis, the airline said today.

Garuda chief executive Emirsyah Satar said the data flight recorder had been recovered from the wreckage of yesterday's fiery crash in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta.

"The black box will be taken to Australia and will be read there," Satar said.

He confirmed that 111 people had survived the crash, with 21 dead and two still missing.

Satar said the condition of the aircraft prior to the crash was satisfactory.

"We have checked and it was fit to fly," he said.

"At Garuda we are very strict in terms of our safety and security regulations.

"We are being audited every year by the Department of Transport."

A representative from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will take the black box to Canberra.

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Speed 'may have been factor' in crash

March 07, 2007 03:30pm

EXCESSIVE landing speed may have caused the crash of a passenger jet in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta today, a crisis management expert says.

University of South Australia Associate Professor Robert Heath said the Garuda flight, which was carrying 140 people, appeared to land intact and the fire that then engulfed it may have been caused by an engine break-up or a puncture to a fuel tank.

"From what I can see so far the aircraft appeared to land intact and that may point to excess speed being a factor," Prof Heath said.

"The fire may have been caused by the nose wheel hitting things as it ran off the runway or engine destruction.

"It was probable that a fuel tank was punctured on impact."

Prof Heath said crashes at take off and on landing could be survived, with up to 30 per cent of passengers making it out alive even if there was a catastrophic destruction of the aircraft frame.

"The key questions here are how soon did the aircraft catch fire and how soon were rescuers able to get there," he said.

"The fact that the structure was intact also meant the only escape routes were through the doors rather than other holes in the structure.

"This means less chance for people to escape the toxic fumes and lack of oxygen, which are the main reasons most people die rather than being killed by the flames themselves."

Prof Heath said it did not appear that weather conditions were a factor in the crash but it shouldn't be assumed it was caused by pilot error.

"There are a number of other factors such as runway conditions, weight of the aircraft, tyre burst or jamming of controls for some reason that would also have to be considered," he said.

Source

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My mother flew with them twice going to and from Bali.
She came home on Monday, last week and told me that she hated the Garuda plane because they were landing fast
She said it was very scary landing

I'm glad my mum and everyone wasn't on this plane the poor people