Verdict on Gardua Captain due today

[Adrian B]

D Day for the Garuda Captain;

Herald Sun - Garuda crash pilot Marwoto Komar faces verdict over fatal crash - Article

INDONESIA'S pilots federation has pleaded for Garuda's Yogyakarta fatal crash pilot to be acquitted, more than two years after the disaster.

Five Australians were among 21 people killed in the crash.

A verdict is expected today in the case against Captain Marwoto, who is charged with criminal negligence in crashing the aircraft on March 7, 2007, The Australian reports.

Australian Federal Police officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott, AusAID country head Allison Sudradjat, Australian embassy public relations staffer Elizabeth O'Neill and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish died in the crash.

Sydney Morning Herald reporter Cynthia Banham was seriously injured.

The Australians were all travelling to the central Java city in connection with a visit there by then foreign minister Alexander Downer.

Family members and friends of the victims plan to be in the court for today's verdict.

Prosecutors had initially asked for a maximum penalty of life in prison, arguing that Captain Marwoto deliberately crashed the Boeing 737-400, causing it to burst into flames after running off the end of the runway at Yogyakarta's Adisucipto airport.

However, they downgraded that charge towards the end of the trial, conceding they did not have enough evidence, and have settled on the lesser one of negligence, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years' prison.

But Manotar Napitupulu, from the Indonesian Pilots Federation, told The Australian it was already "a heavy enough penalty" that Captain Marwoto had had his pilot's licence revoked, and insisted any further sanctions should come from the transport department or from Garuda.

"We hope he will be set free, not jailed, that's clear," Captain Napitupulu said. "We view this as a matter that should not be a criminal issue, since if there's an error it should be dealt with by the Transport Ministry or by the relevant airline company.

"His licence has been revoked, that's the heaviest penalty possible for a pilot, there's nothing above that - so we hope the judges have the conscience andknowledge to set him free."

[NickN]

so we hope the judges have the conscience andknowledge to set him free

Personally I would think letting him go free would be an insult to the families of those who perished.

[KrishnaM]

Just being reported that he has been found guilty of criminal negligence and jailed for two years

[Rhys Xanthis]

Originally Posted by KrishnaM

Just being reported that he has been found guilty of criminal negligence and jailed for two years

Originally Posted by ABC

The pilot of a Garuda jet which crashed in Yoyakarta two years ago, killing 21 people including five Australians, has been sentenced to two years in jail.

Former senior Garuda pilot Marwoto Komar was accused of negligently causing the deaths of 21 people when he ignored 15 automated cockpit warnings and attempted to land a Boeing 737 jet at Yogyakarta Airport at almost twice the normal landing speed.

Garuda Flight 200 bounced off the runway and slammed into an embankment before breaking apart and catching fire.

Prosecutors were seeking a four-year jail term for Komar.

Five Australians were among those killed, including a diplomat, an AusAID official, two Australian federal policemen and a journalist for the Australian Financial Review.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...?section=world

[Greg McDonald]

So, after being found guilty of taking 21 lives through negligence, he gets just over one month per life. Standard Indonesian justice me thinks!! And to make matters even more interesting, he wasn't even ordered to jail....that has to come from a higher court!! Unbelievable

[Owen H]

I'm not sure I personally see what a jail sentence for the pilot will do. It is far more important to encourage open reporting and tackle the real root of the problem than jeapodise future investigations by involving the criminal courts.