Discover Thomson Reuters
By
2 Min Read
Captain Marwoto Komar, the pilot of a Garuda Indonesia aircraft that crashed at Yogyakarta airport last year, listens to the prosecutors during a trial in Sleman in central Java July 24, 2008. REUTERS/Dwi Oblo
SLEMAN, Indonesia (Reuters) – An Indonesian court sentenced the pilot of a Garuda Indonesia aircraft to two years in jail Monday for negligence in an air crash in 2007 in which 21 people were killed, the judge said.
Prosecutors had said captain Marwoto Komar, who had 22 years of flying experience, ignored warnings from his co-pilot and onboard alert signals about the plane’s speed and trajectory when landing the aircraft with 140 people on board.
The plane bounced and skidded off the runway at Yogyakarta airport before bursting into flames in a rice field.
“The defendant was found legitimately and convincingly guilty of negligence,” said Sri Andini, the head of a panel of five judges at the court in Sleman, near Yogyakarta on Java island.
Komar had denied the charges against him, and told reporters previously he had tried to avoid the accident. Prosecutors had sought a four-year jail term.
Indonesia has suffered a string of airline disasters in recent years, raising concerns about safety and prompting the European Union to ban all Indonesian airlines from its airspace.
The case also triggered airline industry protests over the use of a criminal court to punish the pilot.
Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.