Nations at odds over cause of jet disaster

Singapore authorities stood by the safety record of SilkAir's 10-month old Boeing 737-300 while Indonesian investigators hinted at possible mechanical failure.

SilkAir flight MI 185 crashed on Friday in the Musi River on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Rescue workers have recovered only scraps of twisted steel and body parts, but an Indonesian anti-submarine vessel yesterday found three suspicious objects with its sonar equipment.

Admiral Rosihan Arsyad said divers would have to investigate further.

An eight-knot current and strong tides have hampered the search.

Divers said on Saturday they had found what they reported to be a large chunk of fuselage, but the flow of water had apparently swept it away by the time cranes on a barge were ready to operate.

SilkAir spokesman Rick Clements said: "We have very little evidence to suggest any mechanical failure. The aircraft has been very well maintained and had no known defects at all."

Salvage workers have found nothing larger than a wing tip and the plane's rudder so far, but chief Indonesian investigator Oetoyo Diran has already hinted at mechanical failure.

He told the Straits Times : "We are still in the early stages . . . but evidence so far shows mechanical failure could be a factor."

Indonesian authorities have ruled out sabotage or terrorism.

Mr Clements said on Sunday the aircraft, delivered in February to SilkAir, a fully-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, underwent the required three maintenance checks. The third was just 10 days before the crash.

Brigadier-General Riyamizard, Chief of Staff of the South Sumatra Military Command which is overseeing search operations, said if there had been a bomb on the plane it would have exploded as a fireball in mid-air. "Our information shows the pilot was very much trying to control a plane going out of control," he said.

General Riyamizard said the plane had changed its course and was flying back in the direction of Palembang, 65 kilometres south of the crash site.

"The pilot could have sensed something was wrong and decided to land at Palembang," he said.

The pilot, Tsu Way Ming, 41, had 6,900 hours' flying time. He was a former member of the elite Singapore Air Force aerobatic team, the Black Knights.

The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have not yet been recovered from the murky river.

 Published in the South China Morning Post. Dec 23, 1997