How can a plane vanish without a trace? No answers

JAKARTA: A week after an Indonesian plane vanished without a trace, the question on everybody's lips is: how can a huge aircraft disappear from radar screens in this age of sophisticated satellite technology? Nobody has answers.   

Some experts say poor technology and safety procedures are to blame for Indonesia's spotty transportation record. In a few days over the New Year period, a plane belonging to budget carrier Adam Air vanished and a ferry carrying more than 600 people sank. Some 400 of the vessel's passengers and crew are missing.   

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered an evaluation of the transportation system. Transport officials insisted the Boeing 737-400 was airworthy and had no record of trouble. But as search teams scour the seas and mountains, few were optimistic about the transportation system in the sprawling archipelago.   

"There are many problems that cause this kind of accident: bad communication, bad operators, people who don't obey the procedures and lack of supervision," said Joseph Umar Hadi, an opposition member of the parliament's transport commission.   

Experts said the proliferation of budget carriers since the deregulation of the sector in 1999 was one reason for the poor safety record as some airlines invested little and used relatively old planes.   

According to Aviation Safety Network, an international aviation safety monitoring group, Indonesia has one of the worst aviation safety records.   

Kompas newspaper reported on Sunday, citing data from the country's search and rescue and transport ministry data, that between 2001 and 2005, Indonesia had 74 plane accidents that killed 284 and injured 197.   

Critics have raised questions about Indonesia's ground control monitoring after a signal from an emergency locator beacon from the 17-year-old Boeing 737-400 was picked up by a Singapore satellite but not by Jakarta.   

Toni Prasetiantono, chief economist of PT Bank Negara Indonesia, said the government must tighten its controls, through periodic monitoring of companies. Bambang Susantono, chairman of Indonesia's Transportation Society, disagreed technology was inadequate.

"I don't agree that we do not master or don't have adequate technology," he said. "The problem is in the operation and maintenance."   

Despite sea accidents, data from the transportation ministry shows the number of accidents and deaths at sea declined 44 percent and 58 percent respectively between 2001 and 2005.

"We really need a clear picture about (Indonesia's) transportation system before the government can decide how to improve it," Susantono said. "What's important is to bring back confidence among Indonesians about the transportation system."

And the missing plane…

MAKASSAR: Indonesian navy ships searching for a missing airliner have found large metal objects on the sea bed, an admiral said on Monday.

"There were large metal objects at three points. What these metal objects are, we cannot say. We do not have the necessary equipment," said Subyanto, commander of the naval base at Makassar, south Sulawesi.

"A US navy ship is due to arrive in the area on Tuesday and we will direct them to the site," he said ElShinta Radio.

The Adam Air plane with 96 passengers, including an American with two daughters, and a crew of six, vanished on New Year's Day halfway through a flight between the central island of Java and the island of Sulawesi to the northeast. The search is focused on the west of Sulawesi and the surrounding waters, covering an area of tens of thousands of square kilometres.