Jakarta. National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has canceled its order for Boeing's 737 Max 8 planes, saying two fatal crashes in less than five months involving the aircraft have eroded customer confidence.
Garuda ordered 50 of the aircraft in 2014, in a deal worth $4.9 billion. It has so far paid Boeing $26 million and received one of the Max 8 planes but has recently sent a letter to the United States-based manufacturer, informing it of its decision to scrap the order for the remaining 49, citing safety concerns and fear of losing customers.
A four-month-old Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi on March 10, killing all 157 passengers and crew. This came just five months after a nearly new aircraft of the same model, operated by Lion Air, Indonesia's largest budget carrier, plunged into the Java Sea northeast of Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
"After the incident, many of our passengers were asking what type of plane they are boarding before their flights. They tend to choose not to fly if the plane is a [Boeing 737] Max 8," Garuda corporate secretary Ikhsan Rosan said.
The airline plans to replace the Max 8 planes with other models.
Worrying Findings
Garuda's decision came after some details surrounding the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes surfaced in the past week.
Suryanto Cahyono, head of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNTK), said on Thursday that the results of the Lion Air crash investigation would be announced in August or September this year.
The main point on the investigation was the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS), a new safety feature designed to prevent planes from stalling. Boeing added the feature to correct the 737 Max 8's tendency to bring its nose up due to the addition of larger engines, which are placed in a more forward position than it the preceding model.
The new feature was not clearly communicated to airlines and pilots, as the company marketed the 737 Max 8 as having the exact same handling characteristics as its predecessor.
Prosecutors in the United States have issued multiple subpoenas as part of an investigation into Boeing's marketing practices and the aircraft's certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The KNKT's own findings also indicate that most pilots were uninformed about the MCAS feature.
Nurcahyo Utomo, the official in charge of the investigation, confirmed that there was panic in the cockpit just before the crash of Lion Air flight JT-610 on Oct. 29 last year.
"I can't say what they shouted or what caused them to panic. All I can say is that in the end, it looks like the pilots could no longer save the flight and they began to panic," Nurcahyo said.
The committee also found that the ill-fated aircraft faced trouble on its previous flight to Jakarta from Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.
An off-duty pilot who was hitching a ride in the cockpit saved that flight by telling the pilots to disable the MCAS feature.
The KNTK has interviewed the pilot but cannot reveal its findings yet.
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March 22, 2019 at 11:15PM
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