All aircraft unsafe!

Indonesian Planes have been undergoing assessments which have found that none of the aircraft meet the required safety standards.

Australians have been warned not to fly on Indonesian planes by the Federal Government.

The assessment found that none of the carriers met "requirements of the civil aviation safety regulations". Garuda, Indonesia AirAsia and Mandala Airlines all fall into category two meaning that the minimal requirements regarding safety have been met yet not all have been implemented.

For those airlines falling into category three which meet only minimal safety standards (these include Batavia Air, Adam Air and Kartika Airlines), they have been given only three months to improve standards or face being taken out of flying.

This has come as a result of a Garuda plane catching fire which killed 21 people earlier on in March.

Indonesian Plane crash investigation still in progress

The cause of the Indonesian plane crash is still underway with investigators concluding that the aircraft came in too fast onto the runway hence over-running it and bursting into flames.

New evidence from the flight recorders has brought to light that the wing flaps weren’t extended for the landing thus causing the increase of speed. This backs up the claims by the pilots that the flaps were not working as they should and prevented them from extending them properly for the landing.

Mardjomo Siswosumarno who is heading the investigation team says the flaps "were not yet in the landing configuration". Yet later he stated that it’s still too early to draw conclusions.

"We need the history of the flight, what happened in the last three minutes before landing so we will have to take some time."

United States experts are still extracting the pilots’ voices off the cockpit voice recording which will be able to provide clarification of the actions of the pilots.

At the time of the crash the weather was calm which contradicts the pilots’ claim that a huge gust of wind made the jet crash into the runway.

Pilot error still hasn’t been ruled out.

Airline Crash Update

Further to the news I posted last night concerning the Boeing 737-400 that crash landed at Yogyakarta Airport, it is now reported that 21 people sadly lost their lives.

This is a miraculously low number with 115 people escaping the stricken, flame engulfed aircraft through emergency exits.

For extraordinary video pictures of survivors walking from the smouldering wreckage - click here

Airline bursts into flames in Indonesia

The misery befalling on Indonesia failed to halt today when an airliner carrying over 100 passengers erupted into flames when landing in Yogyakarta, Java.

The Boeing 737-400 was carrying Australian journalists and diplomatic staff who had been in the region with the country’s foreign minister.

A survivor reported that the plane overshot the runway and shook violently before an explosion was heard.

Capt. Yos Biantoro said: "I saw at least eight corpses piled up at the front of the plane," The captain was at the fire scene in central Java.

"We overshot the runway, then I heard the sound of an explosion and ran through an emergency exit, I believe many passengers remained trapped on board" passenger Muhammad Dimyati told local TV.

Other eyewitnesses said the aircraft was completely gutted. Eight people are believed to have died.