leaked official documents have given rise to allegations that AirAsia Indonesia violated procedures that lead to the disaster.
The first allegation came to light in a leaked document that was originally sent by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan on Wednesday, revealing that the pilots of the flight had not received a required weather report from the agency.
AirAsia took the [BMKG] weather report at 7 a.m., on Dec. 28, the day of the crash, BMKG head Andi E. Sakya said. The time was after the planes departure from Surabayas Juanda International Airport at 5:35 a.m.
An AirAsia flight operations officer (FOO) received the report only after the plane lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6:17 a.m.
.......according to standard procedures, every time pilots chart flight plans, they must consider [BMKG] weather reports, she said. So how could the plane fly without a weather report from the agency?
Hanna said one factor might be the early-morning departure.
.....the flight departed really early in the morning and the crew had to get ready at least 2.5 hours before that because it was an international flight. Did Juanda airport prepare the crew at 4 a.m.? That may be why the FOO didnt take the weather report from the BMKG. Or it could be the BMKG did not have its officials [ready], said Hanna.
Sunu said the BMKGs station at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport sent reports via e-mail four times a day to the AirAsia Indonesia operations center.
These reports are accepted by the operations control center at all AirAsia Indonesia hubs, which are Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Bandung and Denpasar, where they are printed out and kept by pilots, he said.
The agencys weather map shows that the Surabaya-Singapore route taken by the flight on that day was very cloudy........
Hanna said that AirAsia Indonesia might have obtained a license to fly outside its regular schedule, considering the high demand for year-end travel.
There must have been a new license proposed by AirAsia to the ministry. We must check how it could obtain such a permit and what did it take to get it? Hanna said.
We know [someone] must have given the permit. Were looking into the who and why, he said, adding that those responsible for possible violations might be suspended.
Responding to the allegations, Transportation Minister Ignasius made an unannounced visit to the AirAsia Indonesia office in Cengkareng, Tangerang, on Friday.
Jonan reportedly expressed anger after learning some AirAsia Indonesia pilots had not been directly briefed by the FOO on weather conditions.
The minister was said to have been disappointed with a statement from AirAsia officials that said pilots could download information from the BMKGs website.
Meanwhile in Surabaya, some family members of passengers on the AirAsia flight said they had not considered filing a lawsuit following the allegations.
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