Adam Air Crash
Jan 18th, 2007, in News, by PatungThe possible causes of the Adam Air crash.
Adam Air flight KI 574, in which 96 passengers and six crew were travelling from Surabaya, East Java to Manado, North Sulawesi on January 1st 2007, crashed somewhere off the coast of western Sulawesi. Three possible scenarios have been suggested for the disaster:
- explosion, whether deliberate (like a bomb) or accidental (like fuel catching fire)
- structure failure (like something falling off)
- weather penetration (like extreme winds)
No evidence has been found that suggests an explosion occurred, the fragments of the plane discovered so far indicate no burn damage.
There remains the other two scenarios which could be combined into one, that is extreme weather conditions caused structural damage, or either could have occurred separately, says Frans Wenas of the Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi, KNKT, National Transportation Safety Committee.
Planes have to fly level, or flat, and strong winds could have pushed flight 574 into an abnormal position, which may have resulted in structural damage causing the plane to dip and crash into the sea. Or even without bad weather some part of the plane could have fallen off, again pushing the craft into an unusual position. detik
71 Comments on “Adam Air Crash”
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Andrew says:
Dimp, we probably are, until the government is open-minded enough to ask for help from others.
We are a great nation only if we are humble enough to acknowledge our weaknesses and admit our own mistakes.
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Dimp says:
Hi Andrew,
We are a great nation only if we are humble enough to acknowledge our weaknesses and admit our own mistakes.
We need to be mature to accept criticism and act like adults when faced with challenges. From what I have seen is that criticisms are treated like hostile attack against ideology, race and when we are challenged we always blame others.
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1ndra says:
Something independent from consumer side, think about YLKI.
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Ex Flyboy says:
One of the passengers was a close friend, an American businessman who flew frequently and was comfortable with it. I am a private pilot of some 40 years, and am terrified of commercial flight, because I can’t see instruments and can’t control. But I’ve scared myself half to death when inadvertently flying into rough weather. This was not an open-cockpit biplane flown by pilots seat-of-the-pants; big planes, fast and heavy, fly by instruments. In turbulent weather, things can happen very fast, faster than human comprehension. With instrument malfunction, the wrong corrective input can cause control surfaces to fail, resulting in immediate overspeed or stall, loss of control, in-flight destruction and/or crash.
We know they were in turbulence, and changed course twice, trying to escape. But we don’t know why the Adam Air plane went down– only the flight recorders can tell us that. If they’re not recovered, we’ll never know. The delay is crucial. My heart goes out to family and friends. May our loved ones rest in peace.
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Wisdom Whisper says:
Look at the delay tactics of the Indo government. The coordinates of the DVR and CVR have been identified. However, there has been no concrete action for so many days to retrieve the recorders. There is a clear deliberate govt attempt to delay retrievement of the CVR and DVR if not an outright rejection of it. Only international pressure can make them react. But time is running out (that’s exactly what the govt and Adam Air wants) because the signals will only last for approximately another 10 days.
These are the FACTS.
John has made some interesting comments on the parties who stand to gain but he has forgotten that the govt employees and Adam Air’s management think only from the monetory perspective when making choices. However, the final decision maker is the govt. So, they are COMPLETELY to blame for any inaction of retrieving the CVR and DDR.
Shame on you Indo Govt!
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Lifting the black box to surface sure need very very big money. Some says 10 billion rupiah and some say thousands billion rupiah, well I hope not the last one, it could be used for education, fighting bird’s HN51, dengue fever, and even buying brand new aircraft.
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Hi 1ndra,
Lifting the black box to surface sure need very very big money. Some says 10 billion rupiah and some say thousands billion rupiah, well I hope not the last one, it could be used for education, fighting bird’s HN51, dengue fever, and even buying brand new aircraft.
I found this very hard to believe, it is just another reason not to do it.
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butterfly says:
Here is what I think happened. Terrorists stole the plane, killed everyone on board and are hiding it somewhere to use as a weapon in the U.S. Might sound crazy, but another plane just “disappeared” in the Congo or Kenya about 2 years ago.
There has not been ONE valid picture of any crash or remnants of the plane. 102 people don’t just disappear. All governments are in general sick people and liars. I won’t believe anything they tell use unless there is hard core proof. Fat chance. -
Robert says:
I read on the Jakarta Post site that, head of the NTSC Satio Rahardjo said the US Navy withdraws from the project of retrieving the black boxes, which are submerged at 2,000 meter depth, due to budget reasons.
The US has suggested several commercial companies to Indonesia that could salvage the two black boxes.
Setio also said that Indonesia was seeking support from other countries such as Japan and France to collaborate in recovering the black boxes.
I think it could take a long time and heeps of money to recover the black boxes. I don’t believe in a government cover-up. It is just a too big technical and financial challenge. I do hope however, the boxes will be retrieved so that we’ll hear what caused the crash. This not only for the relatives but also for the aviation community in general so they can learn from the information obtained from the black boxes.
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I think it could take a long time and heeps of money to recover the black boxes. I don’t believe in a government cover-up. It is just a too big technical and financial challenge. I do hope however, the boxes will be retrieved so that we’ll hear what caused the crash. This not only for the relatives but also for the aviation community in general so they can learn from the information obtained from the black boxes.
I think it is a matter of money, money that should have been spent in maintaning the aircrafts in the first place. This is somethinig that can be prevented, unfortunately the fat cats are just thinking about their pockets and not the safety of the customers. Bring on the independent audit, if such thing exists in Indonesia.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this thing will be just swept under the rug.
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Dimp,
I think it is a matter of money, money that should have been spent in maintaning the aircrafts in the first place. This is somethinig that can be prevented, unfortunately the fat cats are just thinking about their pockets and not the safety of the customers. Bring on the independent audit, if such thing exists in Indonesia.
Unfortunately we don’t know what caused the crash. With this crash there are just too many factors involved, so we can’t be sure. In this particular accident also the weather has to be taken into account.
Anyway, maintenance should always be up to a certain (safety) standard. But unfortunately maintenance is often the victim in commercial aviation where the airliners have to fight for their position on the market, and the the salaries of the management seem to have a higher priority.It wouldn’t surprise me if this thing will be just swept under the rug.
I sincerely hope this doesn’t happen, otherwise Indonesia’s image will receive (another) blow and of course the relatives of victims really will feel they have been screwed.
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I found this very hard to believe, it is just another reason not to do it.
Yes, but if the blackbox lifting will be carried on, with that budget, its Adam Air’s responsibility. We don’t have plenty money to spend to fishing a black box.
And the government have other responsibilty with, you named it, including the flood yesterday, today and tomorrow in Jakarta and its surroundings, thousands of living people._____________
I couldn’t imagine diving down to 2000 metres will be healthy for anyone. I mean just imagine those tiny soft plane alumunium surface, if it going to that deep, it will break up because of the massive water pressure.
I don’t know what type of submarine that could go that deep.
I never heard submarines created for that deep.
If we managed to dive down, the next thing is how to lift it up, the plane might be too fragile to be fished up. A false movement will break the ship and scatter the things inside. -
Indra,
I dont know what type of submarine that could go that deep.
I never heard submarines created for that deep.The US Navy has a couple of (manned) submarines that can go very deep. One of them went down into the Mariana Trench (almost 11 km deep) in 1960.
Nowadays a lot of small unmanned submarines are used. They are called Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) and they are equipped with videocams and mechanical hands so they can pick up items. They are being operated from a surface ship.To recover the black boxes one of these ROV’s could be used, but it will be a big financial challenge. You need to hire one these ships with an ROV and all kinds of specialists and they don’t come cheap, unfortunately.
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To recover the black boxes one of these ROV’s could be used,
I know it, the problem is deep down in this sea not only the great pressure but the high stream too, small ROV might be hard to maintain its position.
And small ROV aren’t going to lift big heavy aircraft, and if it has the power, it’s hard to do that smoothly, it needs many ROV to lift the aircraft together.
But maybe the important assignment is to salvage the black boxbut it will be a big financial challenge
Yes, it’s all about the money. 🙂
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Hi Robert,
Unfortunately we don’t know what caused the crash. With this crash there are just too many factors involved, so we can’t be sure. In this particular accident also the weather has to be taken into account.
Well Adam Air should have known that weather will always need to be taken into account, when they decide to fly regardless of weather, it just shows that they prefer to make profit while ignoring people’s safety.
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Aircrash, sea surfaced crash…
Maybe next time we should try to fly a submarine instead… -
John says:
Voyage to the bottom of the sea, complete with plexiglass windows.
My gut feeling is this aircraft is still basically intact down there simply due to the lack of wreckage floating in the water above. The fact that no flotation cushions have surfaced might indicate a plug has been created at the rear end of the aircraft where the seats probably came from and everyone is still stuck in there. Eventually the pressure will probably burst the fuselage open and then all of a sudden all these dead people will come to the surface.
I think they would be far better off going down and getting them first, don’t you?
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John,
Hopefully the fuselage will be intact, that will make recovery more easier as far as you can talk about ‘easy’ at 2000m depth. As far as the human remains are concerned, I don’t think much will be left at 2000m depth due to the enormous waterpressure.
I haven’t read about the follow up yet, about the governments intentions. So for the time being it is voyage to nowhere.
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I want to ask all of you where the proof is that it crashed into the sea. No photos, no jet, no bodies. Sorry, I don’t believe it’s at the bottom of the sea. Does anyone have proof?
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Nope, I hope.
Well, don’t tell me that the crash was a fake scenario. 😀 -
I thinks it’s a reasonable question to ask whether it really happened but I think we can sometimes go too far with assumptions or assertions without proof. So far, anyway, there is some indication that the flight recorders were found close together at different depth, perhaps suggesting the aircraft has slid down the side of a trench. The locators are identical so they wont know which signal is for which recorder but at that depth the descent speed of the fuselage would have been fairly slow. Good grief,surely they can run equipment to that level. We are not living in the early 1900s.
In trying to discover the physical cause of the accident, taking a scientific approach based on what we know, is sensible. e.g. What wreckage was found? Where was it found? What tidal influences were there? What else do we need (a reason for further recovery action) Where were the signals discovered? It’s a massive jigsaw puzzle.
If the question were to arise whether the airline is off the hook, I would suggest not yet or it shouldn’t be at least. Whilst it’s safety history appears coloured, it may or may not be directly responsible for what has happened. The fact is, the airline cannot be off the hook until it has succumbed to a detailed investigation by a coroner preceding a criminal investigation into the loss of the aircraft. The airline cannot just say it lost an aircraft and, as a result, it cannot be proved it did anything wrong. Is Adam Air suing Boeing? Is Adam Air suing anyone else in relation to this accident? If it isn’t it may be implicating itself that it, and no one else, was responsible for this crash. If that’s the case it should have its air operator certificate revoked until it’s safety culture is fixed.
Anyway, we’ll see I guess.
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Ihaknt says:
All this sounds like that Lost TV series.
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Perhaps if I can throw in a few more thoughts here.
Certain 737s had been subject to an airworthiness directive by the DGAC Indonesia for elevator tab vibration (2002) – did these circumstances result in the elevator failing?
Certain 737s had been subject to an airworthiness directive by the DGAC Indonesia for issues with flap tracks which could result in the loss of the outboard trailing edge flaps (2002) – did these circumstances result in the loss of controllability?
Certain 737s had been subject to an airworthiness directive by the DGAC Indonesia over issues with lap joints in the fuselage (2002) – did this occur to cause the fusleage to open up on Adam Air?
Certain 737s had been subject to an airworthiness directive by the DGAC Indonesia
regarding cracking at the aft pressure bulkhead at BS1016 which could result in the loss of the aft pressure bulkhead web (2002) – maybe this happened?Certain 737s had been subject to an airworthiness directive by the DGAC Indonesia regarding aileron tab vibration; perhaps this?
If I were the DGAC, I would be going through that aircraft’s ADs with a fine toothed comb because, just maybe, this aircraft got caught out.
Now with some luck, the passengers down there may still have their cameras intact and just may have some pictures for use in the memory cards, mobile phones. Solid State Memory, fortunately, is resistant to salty water as far as I know.
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Clive ollie says:
Well, sad things like this do happen occasionally. What is sad though is Indonesia’s consistancy in having one of the worst civil aviation safety records in the world with the possible exception of China.
Personally I am scared to fly with all Indonesian airlines. Just looking at the aircraft from the tarmac and seeing the flakey paintwork and dents as well as oil stains and the general appearence of a poor quality second hand car does not instill confidence.
Unfortunately given the vastness of the country and its multiple island situation means that flying is unavoidable.
A long time ago there was a crash at Zagreb. The responsible ATC operator was eventually charged and shot. Maybe this was taking matters too far but when we consider that Indonesian police in Bali recently shot a rapist in front of the victim and drug traffickers are also executed, then maybe the executive of all internal airlines should perhaps start to worry a little more about safety or be held ultimately responsible for their own life endangering decisions.
clive -
John,
Your technical analyses regarding causes are guesses at best. Our efforts should be focused on pressurising the govt to retrieve the Recorders – not on guessing.
It is a very lame excuse to say we can’t afford it. THEN WHY THE HELL are THEY COLLECTING MANY FORMS OF TAXES FROM THE AVIATION INDUSTRY? Should we accept that their obligation is to collect money and not at all to serve the aviation industry or the public that uses them? The legislation, regulation, enforcement and investigation are the responsibilities of governments. This includes covering costs of retrieving the recorders. The enforcement tool allows the government to impose fines on Adam Air if and when evidence is found of wrongdoing. In fact, the govt can even choose to sue Boeing if they were found responsible for the cause of the airplane’s downing.
The intent of the Indo govt is clear, make money out of this. And surely they do out of every airline accident, every certification and every enforcement action. Some of you are reacting just like the corrupt govt – living in complete denial of this reality.
The floods have just made it easier for the govt to distract the public from its responsibilities regarding retrieving the recorders.
For those that can recollect well, calamities have been used as great occassions to distract the Indonesian public from the HOT ongoing issues. Five years ago, a parliamentarian called Akbar Tandjung was facing a court battle with overwhelming evidence of massive corruption against him. The press was centering on the upcoming court decision. According to sources, the govt deliberately (many supporting indications) held on to the rain waters in Bogor for three days and then suddenly opened the flood gates. Many areas that never flooded before got flooded. Jakarta was put into a flood emergency. For the next 2 weeks the press only reported regarding the Jakarta’s flood disaster. After two weeks, the public found out Akbar Tandjung was NOT GUILTY inspite of overwhelming evidence of massive corruption but it wasn’t a hot issue anymore. In fact, if you study the politics in Indonesia, virtually every major disaster that can be engineered like the Jakarta floods, the Australian Embassy bomb (to divert the murder of Munir?), etc. have been used successfully to divert the public attention from the ongoing issue and IT WORKED. THE PUBLIC FELL FOR IT AND SO DID THE PRESS.
So, the floods must not allow this to happen again. Keep the pressure up to retrieve the boxes. Else, politicians will continue to use these tactics and the Indonesian people will continue to suffer.
STAY ON COURSE – ASK THE GOVT TO RETRIEVE THE BOXES – IT’S THEIR DUTY TO SERVE THOSE WHO DIED AND WHO MAY DIE AGAIN IN THE FUTURE IF THE TRUTH IS HIDDEN.
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Interesting don’t you think. Release flood waters all over Jakarta and the media and people’s attention gets diverted. Then an announcement by the Indo govt officials: We declare the aircraft LOST. Nobody pays attention anymore cause it is a secondary issue for most people now (except for those who lost their loved ones entrusting their lives to an airline and a government that failed them.)
Chapter is closed.
How convenient.Just as I had predicted above.
Time for IFALPA, ICAO, UNHCR, and international NGOs to take note.
Time for the Indonesian public to realize they have been duped AGAIN.
Time for the Indo govt officials to ask: Do you really believe in God? If yes, can you honestly tell HIM you did your job honestly when you will face Him one day. Remember you will be made accountable above. Can’t run from Him.
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The plane has been found isnt it? And don’t you read the newspaper, the adam air is ready to the insurance. And the next action is Adam Air’s responsibility.
The government should focus on newest natural disaster. It’s nonsense to still focusing on searching and spend too much money on, because now there’re much living people are in danger in starvation and diseases need to be take care.
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Chris says:
Can anybody provide additional information about progress in retrieving the ‘black box’ flight recorders?
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John says:
Hey john,
You seem to know what your talking about. The US Navy helped Indonesia out bigtime. They found the boxes and the debris field. The aucoustic pingers used to locate the Boxes was tracked at the US determined search area within hours of there search. The crash site was imaged with sonar and has been turned into Indo officials. If it was a US carrier, the plane parts, and human remains would be returned by now. As well as an investigation and complete salvage. Anyone who rides in a 737-300 series should know what happened, or at least why.
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Hi Andrew,
We may just be dreaming here.
I don’t think there is such thing as “independent organisation” in Indonesia, everything is connected somehow.