As the National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) began investigating the cause of Monday’s ground collision between a Batik Air Boeing 737-888 and a TransNusa Air ATR turboprop at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, the Transportation Ministry imposed sanctions on the parties it deemed responsible.

Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan has instructed the KNKT to investigate air traffic control (ATC) operators Flight Navigation Service Organizer Agency (LPPNPI), also known as AirNav, ground-handling company PT Jasa Angkasa Semesta (JAS) as well as state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II.

Jonan has also decided to suspend the licence of JAS and issued a warning to AP II for not filling the position of official in charge of the Halim airport operation.

Following Jonan’s order, the operator of Halim suspended three ATC officers for their alleged roles in the incident.

“The three individuals; a controller, assistant controller and supervisor are grounded and not permitted to perform their duties,” said Wisnu Darjono, operations director of AirNav.

The suspension was also decided upon after examining the psychological state of the three officers. “They were dazed following the incident and they needed to calm down first,” Wisnu said as quoted by Antara news agency on Tuesday.

Wisnu also said that AirNav as well as the Air Force, which jointly handled the ATC operation at Halim airport would cooperate with the KNKT in its investigation of the incident.

The Batik Air Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft was attempting to take off on Monday night for Makassar, South Sulawesi, when its wing clipped the TransNusa plane being towed off the runway. No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.

Fire could be seen engulfing the port wing of the Batik Air aircraft following the collision.

Investigators from the KNKT arrived at the crash site shortly after the incident and as of Tuesday afternoon they had retrieved information from the Boeing’s flight data recorder.

“We began conducting the investigation immediately after the crash on Monday night. We are still collecting information and evidence from relevant parties and institutions,” Soerjanto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

KNKT investigators are expected to question a number personnel and officials who have knowledge about Monday’s crash.

Soerjanto said the individuals targeted by the investigation included the ATC officers and ground-handling staff, duty pilots, the duty manager and general manager of Halim Perdanakusuma Airport.

In a press briefing held following Monday’s incident, Edward Sirait the general affairs director of Lion Air Group, the owner of Batik Air, said the Batik Air aircraft had already been given clearance for take-off by the control tower.

“The pilot saw the TransNusa aircraft and he attempted to avoid the collision, but it was unavoidable,” he said, adding that the pilot had followed the correct safety procedures, including by aborting the take-off and the flight’s safety officers following proper evacuation protocol.

The airline also dispatched three passengers to a nearby hospital to receive treatment for shock.

Lion Air offered passengers the option to fly on a different flight or to cancel their flights and get a full refund.

The incident led to the temporary shutdown of the airport from the time of the incident until midnight on Monday and then extended to 5 a.m. Tuesday to allow for runway overlay work. ATC officers only dispatched flights to Pekanbaru, Riau, and Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday morning.

Lion Air has rejected speculation that its flights to Makassar will be suspended as was the case when a Batik Air aircraft skidded upon landing at Adi Sucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta last year.
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