P

rivate companies involved in the demonstration flight for the ill-fated Sukhoi Superjet 100 that crashed in Mt. Salak revealed that a number of irregularities had plagued the program from its inception.

PT Indo Asia Ground Utama, a local agent of the Russian-based Sukhoi Air Corp. Company has denied any involvement in arranging the flight clearance for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 which crashed on May 9 killing all 45 people on board.

The company’s operational manager Agung Baktiono said that the firm had arranged both an entrance permit and a flying permit for a Sukhoi Superjet 100 No. 97005 and not the No. 97004 that crashed.

“We did arrange all of the permits for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 No. 97005 but not the one that crashed in the accident in Bogor. However, I don’t have details on this because our general director, Rully Darmawan, who was among the victims of the accident, was in charge of the issue,” Agung told reporters at the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday.

Earlier in a hearing with the House’s Commission V overseeing transportation, Agung denied that the company was responsible for arranging the flight clearance for the demonstration.

“Our service for the aircraft was only to arrange for an entry clearance, also known as landing permit, and not for a flight clearance,” Agung said before the lawmakers.

He added that his company made such an arrangement only after being asked by cargo airline company PT Aerologic, which was appointed by the Russian aircraft manufacturer as its broker in the country.

“PT Aerologic only asked us to help arrange a landing permit so the Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner could enter Indonesia. It didn’t ask anything about clearance to allow the aircraft to perform the demonstration flight,” Agung said.

PT Indo Asia Ground Utama was summoned by the DPR on Monday afternoon after PT Tri Marga Rekatama, Sukhoi’s agent in Indonesia, told lawmakers in an earlier hearing that the former was also responsible for the aircraft’s flight clearance.

“We are only a local representative of the Sukhoi’s manufacturer. The joy flight [on May 9] was fully the manufacturer’s program to promote the aircraft to future consumers so that they could experience flying on the airliner. All of the permits for [the flight] were arranged by PT Indo Asia Ground Utama,” PT Tri Marga Rekatama’s Sunaryo said.

The Transportation Ministry’s air transportation director general Harry Bakti Singayudha Gumay confirmed that PT Indo Asia Ground Utama was responsible for arranging the flight clearance for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 as a representative of the Russian-based Sukhoi Air Corp.

“PT Indo Asia Ground Utama had asked for both a landing permit and flight clearance for a joy flight. So, there was nothing wrong with the procedures for both permits. The landing permit was signed by a representative of the manufacturer from Russia, while the company’s agent, which is PT Indo Asia Ground Utama, was trusted to handle the flight clearance,” Harry told reporters on the sidelines of the hearing.

The conflicting accounts raised lawmakers’ suspicions.

Some blasted the outfits for shirking responsibilities over the permit and starting to blame each other.

“It appears that you all are trying to take your hands off the matter. This proves that human error caused the accident. The commission must soon form a special working committee to further investigate the matter,” lawmaker Teguh Juwarno from the National Awakening Party (PAN) said.

He added that the committee should be also responsible for monitoring the insurance payment mechanism for the victims’ families.