Jail Term Sought For Garuda Crash Pilot
February 23, 2009
Indonesian prosecutors asked a court on Monday to jail for four years for negligence the pilot of a Garuda Indonesia plane that crashed at Yogyakarta Airport in 2007, killing 21 people.
Prosecutors told the court in Sleman, near Yogyakarta on Java island, that captain Marwoto Komar had ignored warnings from his co-pilot and onboard warning signals about the plane's speed and trajectory when landing the aircraft with 140 people on board.
"As a senior pilot, the defendant was not really careful, causing the loss of lives," said Mudim Aristo, head of the team of prosecutors.
Komar, who had 22 years of flying experience, has denied the charges against him, and told reporters after the hearing that he had tried to avoid the accident.
The pilot's defense team is due to present its final arguments on March 10.
The Boeing 737 bounced and skidded off the runway, then burst into flames in rice fields near the airport in March 2007.
Five Australians -- two policemen, a diplomat, a journalist and an aid official -- were among the casualties.
They were part of a group that had been accompanying former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, who was not on board the plane, on a visit to Indonesia.
