T

he Transportation Ministry has suspended the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) of Nusantara Buana Air’s (NBA) Casa 212-200 planes for safety reasons, following the crash of one of its planes in the forest of Langkat, North Sumatra, last week.

“We are suspending its AOC because its airplanes do not meet basic air practical standards. They are under-performing,” the ministry’s air transportation director general, Herry Bakti Gumay, said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He said the ministry found several serious shortcomings in certain areas, such as aircraft performance, maintenance, and fuel and pilot policy.

However, he refused to comment on each area in detail.

“Nusantara Buana Air should be able to improve these areas to get its AOC back,” he said.

The ministry did not give a deadline for the airline to meet the requirements, but Herry said the ministry expected to see improvements within one month.

NBA has nine aircraft serving 38 pioneer flight routes in nine provinces across the archipelago, including Aceh, North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku.

Herry said other airlines, like Merpati, Susi Air and Wings Air, would take over NBA’s routes because people would continue to travel to the areas.

“We also plan to evaluate all pioneer flights in Indonesia in the near future,” he said.

The Casa 212-200 plane, built in 1989, crashed in the Mount Leuser National Park in Langkat last Thursday. None of the plane’s 14 passengers and four crew members survived.

Herry said the ill-fated plane had been equipped with the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) — an instrument that alerts pilots if an aircraft is in immediate danger of crashing. However, it was an early generation device.

The ministry has yet to announce any plans to require newer aircraft to be equipped with the latest generation of GPWS.

In Medan, Search and Rescue (SAR) team members said all passengers of the ill-fated plane were found dead in their seats when the rescuers reached the location.

Sec. Sgt. Dian Iriansyah of the Air Force’s special forces and First Brig. Masrul of the North Sumatra Police said it took two days to reach the location, which was only 300 meters from where they were deployed from the helicopter.

“It was very tough terrain; hilly and never ventured into before,” Dian said, adding that they began trying to reach the site on Friday.

“The team started evacuating the victims on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” said Sec. Sgt. Welri John Pasaribu of the Air Force.

He added that most victims had broken bones from the crash.

National SAR head Air Marshal Daryatmo said the evacuation of the victims had ended.

“We have pulled our men out of the location,” he said. (nfo)