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Indonesia won’t clear Boeing 737 MAX before safety study despite FAA green light
The Boeing 737 MAX series was grounded by aviation regulators around the world after two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019.
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he Transportation Ministry will conduct independent inspections regarding the Boeing 737 MAX series before allowing Indonesian airlines to fly the aircraft, despite clearance given by the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The ministry’s air transportation director general, Novie Riyanto, said on Thursday the government would not immediately provide clearance for the Boeing 737 MAX to return to Indonesian skies and instead would follow existing re-certification procedures to study the aircraft’s safety.
“We will not automatically allow the aircraft to fly just because the FAA says so. There are certain processes that we need to do to ensure the aircraft’s safety,” he said in an online press conference.
“In addition to coordinating with the FAA, we also have been in close contact with other ASEAN countries as fellow Boeing 737 MAX users to synchronize [our policies]. We are also coordinating with EASA and sharing our lessons learned to ensure maximum passenger safety,” he said, referring to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
The Boeing 737 MAX series was grounded by aviation regulators around the world after two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019.
Thorough investigations into the crashes concluded that the flight handling system known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation Systems (MCAS) that was supposed to prevent the aircraft from stalling, constantly forced the aircraft’s nose downward based on erroneous data from a single airflow sensor.
The FAA on Wednesday cleared the Boeing 737 MAX to return to the skies, ending its 20-month grounding, saying the approval came after "an unprecedented level of collaborative and independent reviews by aviation authorities around the world."
Low-cost carrier Lion Air group, which suffered the fatal crash in 2018, told the Post on Thursday that the airline was still waiting clearance before returning its aircraft into service.
“We’re still awaiting decisions from manufacturers and regulators,” the airline’s spokesperson Danang Mandala Prihantoro said via text messages. He, however, declined to comment on the company’s Boeing 737 MAX series order decision.
The group currently owns 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and is still expecting 207 MAX 8, two MAX 9 and 50 MAX 10 units.
Similarly, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra told the Post on Friday that the company was not in a hurry to operate the MAX series following the FAA’s clearance.
“Because the aircraft has been grounded for a quite long time, we need to retrain our pilots and run a recertification process before allowing the aircraft to be operated. We also need authorization from the Indonesian aviation regulator to fly the aircraft,” he said.
Garuda, which currently owns one Boeing 737 MAX 8, will also aim to keep the aircraft on the ground as passenger demand has plummeted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We haven’t decided the aircraft’s operational timetable because we always set up our fleet based on passenger demand. Currently, we still have some aircraft grounded because of the lack of demand,” Irfan said.
He added that the company had not decided to cancel its remaining orders of 49 Boeing 737 MAX 8 units and remained in close contact with the manufacturer.
Separately, aviation industry and safety expert Chappy Hakim called on the government and airlines to wait and conduct proper inspections before allowing the aircraft back into business.
“After the incidents, the credibility of the FAA has been tarnished as they allowed the troubled aircraft to remain in the air. Therefore, we shouldn’t rush to adopt the FAA’s and EASA’s decisions,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.
However, conducting a proper inspection is a challenge for Indonesian regulators as the government does not own a Boeing 737 MAX 8 simulator and does not have expert test pilots or engineers.
“Indonesia is in a difficult position because we need to run a thorough investigation and trial, but we cannot do that properly because we don’t have either the simulator or the expertise,” he said.
Passengers also remain wary of the aircraft’s safety following the two fatal crashes, which were widely reported by the international media.
Vicky Andryandra, 24, a management consulting firm employee and frequent flyer from Jakarta, told the Post that he would still avoid flying in a Boeing 737 MAX despite the clearance from the FAA and potentially from local regulators.
“In my view, the two crashes are a bad record for the aircraft’s safety. I think I will continue to avoid using the MAX series until all regulators give clearance and their safety record has been ultimately proven,” he said on Friday.
