I flew AdamAir from Jakarta to Medan (Indonesia) on December 30, just before an AdamAir 737 flight disappeared with 102 people on Jan. 1.
It was an eerie feeling during the week it took to locate the plane. Usually 737s don’t just disappear for a week.
A storm occurred around that time, so the initial suspicion was that severe winds or lightning strike could have damaged the plane.
There was a wide-spread rumor that 12 people had survived and 90 had died. Both the media and an AdamAir reservations employee repeated it.
I was skeptical because there was no information on the wreckage, and it was unlikely that even 12 people would survive an in-flight accident.
Finally, SAR planes detected magnetic anomalies, and local fishermen recovered some tail pieces. Local media urged residents to hand over any scavenged parts from the beach or fishing nets. What appeared to be part of a rudder or aileron was shown on local TV.
After Medan, I again flew AdamAir again to Denpasar via Jakarta. The last leg was rescheduled by AdamAir as they were apparently short of planes.
I consider all Indonesian airlines equal (moderately unsafe), so didn’t mind boarding AdamAir again. The main Indonesian safety problems are poor airport runway and navigation facilities maintenance, airplane maintenance, and emergencies training.
The budget carriers in Indonesia tend to delay takeoff until all seats are full, potentially increasing risk of fatigued staff. I’ve never seen an empty seat on an AdamAir or LionAir flight!
Additionally, Indonesian culture discourages individual employee decision-making if that would cost money or conflict with a boss – even if safety-related.
It now looks like a spiral dive overstressed the airplane. That would be a preventable pilot error, prolly the same one that killed John Kennedy, Jr.
Indonesia plane likely spiraled into sea
AP: Indonesia Budget Airlines Questioned
