Families call for Silkair crash probe to be speeded up

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The Silkair crash mystery

FAMILIES of the 104 people killed in the 1997 mystery crash of a Singapore plane have called for the probe into the disaster to be speeded up amid reports one of the pilots committed suicide.

"We are extremely frustrated by the lack of official information being given to the families or surviving relatives," David Beevers, a member of an association representing the families told a press conference late Monday.

The SilkAir MI 185 Association, set up in January to pursue the cause of the crash, represents about 60 families.

Beevers said families have had to "rely on articles appearing in the media both locally and internationally to find out anything of substance."

Some of the articles, he said, had been "very disturbing and have created extreme distress for the families of those killed."

Suicide by one of the two pilots due to financial difficulties was cited as among the possible causes of the crash involving 104 passengers and crew.

The SilkAir Boeing 737 plane was en route to Singapore from Jakarta on December 19, 1997, when it crashed over the Indonesian town of Palembang on the island of Sumatra.

Recent reports quoted Oetarjo Diran, chief investigator of Indonesia's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, as saying it had "obtained the relevant financial information" on the crew of the ill-fated SilkAir plane.

Beevers said his association was very "concerned about the quality of the crash investigation" and that results announced so far by Diran "are far from satisfactory."

"No conclusions have been drawn other than to announce that they have eliminated bad weather, terrorism, hazardous materials, air traffic control and maintenance as the possible causes," he said.

"Aircraft do not simply fall out of the sky from 35,000 feet and hit the ground approximately one minute later," he said.

The association also planned to appeal to the International Civil Aviation Authority in Geneva to change its guidelines to make it mandatory for information on crash investigations to be released.

At present, such information is given at the discretion of the investigator.

The association is also concerned that economic problems in Indonesia were hampering the probe.

The association earlier this year also asked the Singapore government for assurance that the investigation will not be impeded by the economic crisis.