Indonesia backs off from reopening Silk Air crash inquiry

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Hope that Indonesia would reopen an investigation into an air crash which killed 104 people, including two Aucklanders, has receded despite new evidence backing a suicide-murder theory.

TVNZ's 60 Minutes programme reported last night that a new head of Indonesia's air investigation agency considered reopening the inquiry into the 1997 crash of SilkAir flight MI 185 after evidence the unstable captain had major gambling debts.

But it said the agency had reneged, claiming not to have enough "international support" for a new examination.

Some relatives of those killed speculated that Indonesia was again unwilling to offend the Singapore Government, owner of SilkAir through its Singapore Airlines parent and which has opposed reopening the case.

Captain Tsu Way Ming's Boeing 737 flipped at 35,000 ft and plummeted through the sound barrier into a Sumatran river on December 19, 1997. American participants in the Indonesian-led investigation blamed "intentional pilot action."

On board were 23-year-old co-pilot Duncan Ward of Howick and 42-year-old mining engineer Kenneth Wilson, on his way home to join his wife and children for Christmas on the North Shore.

The captain, a former combat pilot, had been demoted for two out of three instances of erratic behaviour, including disconnecting a cockpit voice recorder.

Indonesian investigators concluded there was not enough evidence to determine the cause of the crash but the United States National Transportation Safety Board said the control column must have been deliberately held down to overcome the aircraft's self-correcting mechanisms.

No evidence of any technical fault has been found, but the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were disconnected, six minutes apart.

The television programme said the Indonesian agency considered reopening the investigation after apparently finding evidence in an accountant's report that Captain Tsu, who took out a hefty life insurance policy, had even larger debts than earlier thought.

A former US safety board official told the programme the original investigators, including Indonesians and Singaporeans, agreed at a final conference the crash was caused by an intentional act.

Mr Ward's father, Derek Ward, told the Herald the family was already convinced Captain Tsu had forced down the plane after subduing Duncan or locking him out of the cockpit so did not need another investigation.

But he was disgusted at the Singaporean Government's apparent continuing obstruction of efforts to reach an official conclusion, and said Indonesia was obliged by an international aviation treaty to investigate any significant new evidence.

"We know what happened, we can't bring the dead back to life, but the only issue as far as I am concerned is making sure people trying to cover it up don't get away with it."