syscom3
Pacific Historian
I saw this on another forum. It has to do with the operator of the 737, named "Adam Air".
I dont know if this can be considered shocking or funny....
Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Adam Air - The Flying Circus Nightmare
After the spectacular incident where PK-KKE went off course a few months ago, where it landed at some isolated small airport 400NM off away from its destination, many of us down here suspected bad maintenance as a cause. Despite all the press statements by Adam Air citing pilot error, the Directorate General of Air Communication (DGAC) placed an order for Adam Air to fix the IRS of PK-KKE (B733) and it would require 13 proving flights with the DGAC on board inspectors over a few months for PK-KKE to be released for unrestricted commercial flying.
Now, a quick look into Adam Air in the few months revealed some (not so) shocking discoveries, mainly around the commercial vs safety issues. All this culminated in the strike by the Flight Ops Officers at CGK station around 2 weeks ago, where they wanted better pay (they're amongst the lowest paid in the industry), and better safety, and the reemployment of 10 of their colleagues who were fired for "differences with management."
I have decided to write some of these up based on publicly available information, witnesses and also conversations with current and former Adam Air personnell, and many of whom wished this information to be known public but without fear of reprisals to their livelihoods, their lives, and also mine.
Does management understand the real meaning of the word "safety" ?
There are serious doubts as to the safety conscience of the senior management within the airline, in particular, the owners. The effects of the PK-KKE incident (Tambolaka Incident) did not dent Adam Air's image thanks to a quick hash up of the incident despite all the discoveries by the press regarding the handling. However, the management was quick to put the blame on the pilot and the first officer (who was a DGAC pilot attached to the airline). This resulted in Adam announcing that it was to place criminal charges on the two pilots for endangering people's lives (some sort of attempted manslaughter) through professional negligence. This yielded public protest from the pilot community and in particular Adam Air's pilots, who already had 17 colleagues being sued by Adam Air for not paying their bonds (20,000 USD).
Strangely enough, those 17 pilots that were being sued had in the past refused to fly aircraft that were not in a safe condition to carry passengers. The pilots were taken off the rosters and did not fly for some months, depriving them of income through per diem pay, flight hour pay and meal allowances which can form 25 - 40% of their income. When they decided to resign because the company wouldn't put them on flying duties, the company decided to sue them for their working bonds and other damages such as losses from training costs etc. Bear in mind that some of these pilots may already have had their type ratings before they joined Adam Air.
Further concerns of Adam Air's safety comes to the flight attendants. Adam Air's flight attendants often fly with maximum daily duty time and minimum rests at outstations, as well as being worked to the maximum legal limit of 6 days flying in a week. Fatigue have resulted in at least one known case of an Adam Air flight attendant being hospitalised for fatigue or illnesses where fatigue is a major contributory factor. The other side of the concern is the relative experience of the cabin crew on a particular flight. Adam Air is known to have put many junior flight attendants on a gruelling roster and place them as Pursers/CA1 within 6 months of flying duty.
Incidents, accidents, maintenance defects and deferrals
1. Tambolaka
The most well known of all Adam Air incidents is the Tambolaka Incident. The details of this incident have been discussed before in this forum. A few months down the road, it can be said that the company's handling of the Tambolaka incident was also hilarious and shocking.
The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) ordered was appalled when their go-team was left stranded in Denpasar when they were due to fly to Tambolaka with the Adam Air engineers, after the flight they were supposed to take flew with the engineers but without them. The NTSC was then appalled that the item of focus for the investigation, PK-KKE's IRS, was "repaired" before they arrived. NTSC cited that this was an obstruction to the investigation and a deliberate attempt to hide evidence. The NTSC was further hindered in that the aircraft flew to Makassar after being repaired without the NTSC's prior approval. The DGAC also protested against such a move, but Adam Air insisted that the aircraft had permission to fly to Makassar immediately after it was repaired but would not state which DGAC officer gave the approval.
2. Weather Radars
During last monsoon season, one Adam Air pilot has once called me asking for weather satellite pictures of Indonesia. I had asked him why and his answer was shocking. "At one stage, all of our 732s had no weather radar." Despite this, they were forced to fly into the night in areas with dense cumulus and Cumulonimbus clouds that is prevalent during monsoon season.
3. A 737-3/4/5 flat battery incident.
A few weeks ago I received a message asking about the 737-3/4/5 electrics. Apparently, during cruise, the GEN2 have failed. Normally, the flight would continue with the APU GEN enganged to replace the failed GEN. Unfortunately, the plane had somehow been dispatched with a flat battery which wouldn't recharge. The aircraft continued to the destination on a single GEN and its unclear whether there was a nearer suitable airport to divert to as no further information was given.
I dont know if this can be considered shocking or funny....
Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Adam Air - The Flying Circus Nightmare
After the spectacular incident where PK-KKE went off course a few months ago, where it landed at some isolated small airport 400NM off away from its destination, many of us down here suspected bad maintenance as a cause. Despite all the press statements by Adam Air citing pilot error, the Directorate General of Air Communication (DGAC) placed an order for Adam Air to fix the IRS of PK-KKE (B733) and it would require 13 proving flights with the DGAC on board inspectors over a few months for PK-KKE to be released for unrestricted commercial flying.
Now, a quick look into Adam Air in the few months revealed some (not so) shocking discoveries, mainly around the commercial vs safety issues. All this culminated in the strike by the Flight Ops Officers at CGK station around 2 weeks ago, where they wanted better pay (they're amongst the lowest paid in the industry), and better safety, and the reemployment of 10 of their colleagues who were fired for "differences with management."
I have decided to write some of these up based on publicly available information, witnesses and also conversations with current and former Adam Air personnell, and many of whom wished this information to be known public but without fear of reprisals to their livelihoods, their lives, and also mine.
Does management understand the real meaning of the word "safety" ?
There are serious doubts as to the safety conscience of the senior management within the airline, in particular, the owners. The effects of the PK-KKE incident (Tambolaka Incident) did not dent Adam Air's image thanks to a quick hash up of the incident despite all the discoveries by the press regarding the handling. However, the management was quick to put the blame on the pilot and the first officer (who was a DGAC pilot attached to the airline). This resulted in Adam announcing that it was to place criminal charges on the two pilots for endangering people's lives (some sort of attempted manslaughter) through professional negligence. This yielded public protest from the pilot community and in particular Adam Air's pilots, who already had 17 colleagues being sued by Adam Air for not paying their bonds (20,000 USD).
Strangely enough, those 17 pilots that were being sued had in the past refused to fly aircraft that were not in a safe condition to carry passengers. The pilots were taken off the rosters and did not fly for some months, depriving them of income through per diem pay, flight hour pay and meal allowances which can form 25 - 40% of their income. When they decided to resign because the company wouldn't put them on flying duties, the company decided to sue them for their working bonds and other damages such as losses from training costs etc. Bear in mind that some of these pilots may already have had their type ratings before they joined Adam Air.
Further concerns of Adam Air's safety comes to the flight attendants. Adam Air's flight attendants often fly with maximum daily duty time and minimum rests at outstations, as well as being worked to the maximum legal limit of 6 days flying in a week. Fatigue have resulted in at least one known case of an Adam Air flight attendant being hospitalised for fatigue or illnesses where fatigue is a major contributory factor. The other side of the concern is the relative experience of the cabin crew on a particular flight. Adam Air is known to have put many junior flight attendants on a gruelling roster and place them as Pursers/CA1 within 6 months of flying duty.
Incidents, accidents, maintenance defects and deferrals
1. Tambolaka
The most well known of all Adam Air incidents is the Tambolaka Incident. The details of this incident have been discussed before in this forum. A few months down the road, it can be said that the company's handling of the Tambolaka incident was also hilarious and shocking.
The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) ordered was appalled when their go-team was left stranded in Denpasar when they were due to fly to Tambolaka with the Adam Air engineers, after the flight they were supposed to take flew with the engineers but without them. The NTSC was then appalled that the item of focus for the investigation, PK-KKE's IRS, was "repaired" before they arrived. NTSC cited that this was an obstruction to the investigation and a deliberate attempt to hide evidence. The NTSC was further hindered in that the aircraft flew to Makassar after being repaired without the NTSC's prior approval. The DGAC also protested against such a move, but Adam Air insisted that the aircraft had permission to fly to Makassar immediately after it was repaired but would not state which DGAC officer gave the approval.
2. Weather Radars
During last monsoon season, one Adam Air pilot has once called me asking for weather satellite pictures of Indonesia. I had asked him why and his answer was shocking. "At one stage, all of our 732s had no weather radar." Despite this, they were forced to fly into the night in areas with dense cumulus and Cumulonimbus clouds that is prevalent during monsoon season.
3. A 737-3/4/5 flat battery incident.
A few weeks ago I received a message asking about the 737-3/4/5 electrics. Apparently, during cruise, the GEN2 have failed. Normally, the flight would continue with the APU GEN enganged to replace the failed GEN. Unfortunately, the plane had somehow been dispatched with a flat battery which wouldn't recharge. The aircraft continued to the destination on a single GEN and its unclear whether there was a nearer suitable airport to divert to as no further information was given.