Sky Aviation’s safety manager, Sukamto, said on Tuesday that the accident had triggered the company to delay the ordered aircrafts’ delivery.
“We will wait for the results of the ongoing investigation into the cause of the accident before we take the next step,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.
According to Sukamto, officials from the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) have confirmed that the air crash investigation would take one year to be to complete.
Earlier, an official statement from the Russian Embassy in Jakarta confirmed that the contract was signed during the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2011 in Zhukovsky, Russia, on Aug. 16, 2011.
The contract is valued at US$380.4 million.
Last week, an executive at Indonesian domestic carrier PT Kartika Airlines said that the delivery of 30 Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft that his company had ordered would likely also be delayed following the plane crash
Another Indonesian carrier, Queen Air, which ordered six Sukhoi aircraft, has yet to confirm whether they will cancel their order.
Last Tuesday, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta and was welcomed by potential buyers, including officials of PT Sky Aviation Airlines, who hosted the demonstration flight or “joy flight”.
On Wednesday, the Sukhoi carried out it first exhibition flight and landed smoothly at the airport.
However, the second joy flight of the Russian-made plane ended in tragedy.
With 45 people onboard, including nine flight attendants of the Sky Aviation, the Sukhoi disappeared from radar screens at 2:33 p.m. last Wednesday before an Air Force helicopter spotted its wreckage at an altitude of 5,800 feet in the foothills of Mt. Salak’s in Cidahu, Sukabumi, at 9:15 a.m. the day following day.
Search and rescue teams found that the bodies of the Sukhoi passengers were no longer intact.
Eight Russian crew members, one American citizen and one French passenger were onboard along with 35 Indonesians.
As of Monday, a total of 25 body bags had been sent to the officials of Raden Said Sukanto National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.
http://www.thejakartapost.com
