Restoring Optimism

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Members of the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), accompanied by members of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), collect data from the debris of Lion Air flight JT-610 at the command post of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) at the Jakarta International Container Center (JICT) II, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, Thursday (1/11/2018).

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"Statistically, flying is the safest mode of transportation." (Dominic Gates, reprinted by The Seattle Times, June 18, 2018)

This is encouraging when considering the performance of world civil aviation, including in Indonesia. In 2017, according to consulting agency To70 and the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), it was the safest year in the history of civil aviation (BBC, 2/1/2018). According to National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono, the absence of fatal accidents in Indonesia in 2017 cannot be separated from the efforts of various parties to improve aviation safety standards.

However, the Lion Air flight JT-610 crash on Monday (29/10/2018) has greatly affected this. People are reminded of statistics. Indonesia is ranked as the country with the highest number of fatal air accidents in Asia (Kompas, 1/11/2018). The ASN has noted that between 1945 and 2018, there have been 99 fatal accidents involving commercial aircraft in Indonesia with 2,224 fatalities.

This situation must be improved. The recent plane accident hurt the credibility, professionalism and competence of the management of the country\'s civil aviation industry. The accident tainted not only operators but also regulators and stakeholders. This is the right time for reflection and the rediscovering of the spirit of professionalism.

Lessons to learn

There are lessons to be learned from the performance in 2017. The KNKT chairman said there were discussion groups among airline companies. The Transportation Ministry regularly conducts inspections and audits airlines.

Operational training is considered to be the biggest contributor to the increase in flight safety, in addition to following set standards. Another thing that is needed is the establishment of a center to assess past accidents and learn from them. "Like Lion Air and AirAsia, which have established lesson centers to remind all parties, especially pilots," said Soerjanto (BBC, 2/1/2018). There are no problems with the technical aspects.

However, the aviation industry has not been idle in this respect . One of the main activities is manufacturers\' efforts to incorporate the newest technological innovation in the latest generation of aircraft. On the one hand, there are efforts to make operating costs lower, especially regarding fuel consumption, lower emissions (toward green flights) and a reduction in pilot workload, due to simplification of flight controls. However, on the other hand, innovation often results in unexpected problems.

Problems with the lithium-ion battery saw the brief suspension of  the latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet. Damage to the turbofan jet engine GP7200  in Air France\'s A-380 super jumbo airplane caused a diversion of flights from Paris to Los Angeles and Canada (AFP, The Guardian, 1/10/2017)

A series of problems occurred with the three most sophisticated aircraft engine models. The Trent 1000 made by Rolls-Royce used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the GTF (Geared Turbofan) made by Pratt & Whitney used in Airbus A-320 neo jets and the LEAP or CFM International used in  all Boeing 737s MAX all caused trouble for operators  and drained the pockets of the manufacturers.

Staying optimistic

Aside from these problems, civil aviation continues to look at the future with optimism. With increased activity in airports in the country, and abroad, we believe the number of the airplane passengers will continue to increase. The number of passengers passing through Soekarno-Hatta Airport reached 63 million people in 2017. In 2018, the figure is projected to increase to 70 million people, and by 2025 it will reach 100 million.

The upward trend in the number of passengers is also supported by an increase in aircraft production. Boeing and Airbus never forecast that they would produce 14 Boeing 787 aircraft per month, in addition to more than 60 Boeing 737 and Airbus A-320 jets (Gates, ST). The increase in the number of passengers is followed by the rise in the number of aircraft. This can be seen in the growing activity at airports. At Soekarno-Hatta Airport, for example, aircraft often have to park at the airport without a jet bridge, despite the operation of Terminal 3. Aircraft also often have to wait for a long time to take off and land.

There are pros and cons to the increase in aircraft movement (taking off and landing). The Indonesia Air Traffic Controller Association (IATCA) once protested against flight movement at Soekarno-Hatta Airport reaching 84 per hour. In fact, according to a Transportation Ministry  regulation, the airport should ideally handle a maximum of 76 aircraft movements per hour . When a third runway is operated, there are more than 120 aircraft movements per hour.

In addition to airport management, the rise in the number of passengers has also increased airline activity. In addition to adding ground staff, pilots and cabin crew, the management should be even better. The operational director and an airline\'s technical director should be the most responsible for the daily operations, starting from arranging airplane schedules, including crew and technicians.

When adding to fleets, airlines, especially pilots and technicians, have to learn new technology. Training should be conducted by all airlines, including Lion Air, which in recent years has had phenomenal fleet expansion. Even though the new aircraft are of the same Boeing 737 series, their technology can be different. There are many differences between the series -200, -400, -800 NG, and MAX. Among the various technological components, the most prominent differences are in the use of materials and engineering that can improve fuel efficiency and flight distance.

For the Boeing 737 MAX, in addition to the introduction of the LEAP engine, there is also a split scimitar winglet design. The control system is more compact, which can make it easier for pilots to fly the planes.

However, a number of flight observers also acknowledge that the technology and design of the new aircraft are not always one-off. Sometimes, like in a car, something needs to be redesigned. As mentioned by aviation observer Dudy Sudibyo, with regard to new aircraft, one cannot ignore the phenomenon of "baby sickness". Problems can arise from unexpected causes.

Work to do

There is both optimism and challenges. The important thing is that all stakeholders, regulators, operators and manufacturers continue to do their work. For manufacturers, new innovations should be consistently made. Operators should respond to the increase in the number of passengers by procuring new aircraft. However, the enthusiasm of this business must also be balanced with professionalism. Passenger safety should remain the top priority. Efforts should be made as much as possible in order to achieve zero accidents.

The regulators also play an important part in achieving safety goals. The aviation industry is in the spotlight. Regulators must be uncompromising in enforcing rules. The nature of the task of a regulator is to foster, but when operators don\'t learn from the mistakes, they  must not hesitate to take action.

With the professionalism of all these parties, Indonesian airlines can take pride in themselves.