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‘These airlines should be banned in Australia’

Aircraft technicians check the Rolls Royce engine of Garuda Indonesia's Airbus A330-300 aircraft at the company hangar in Jakarta airport on July 15, 2009. Indonesia, hoping for an upturn in European tourism, welcomed the EU's decision to remove four Indonesian airlines including crash-blighted Garuda Airlines from its aviation blacklist. Once reeling from a spate of deadly accidents, flag-carrier Garuda said it planned to resume flights to Europe as early as next year, and is also eyeing the lucrative US market. AFP PHOTO/ROMEO GACAD (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Aircraft technicians check the Rolls Royce engine of Garuda Indonesia's Airbus A330-300 aircraft at the company hangar in Jakarta airport on July 15, 2009. Indonesia, hoping for an upturn in European tourism, welcomed the EU's decision to remove four Indonesian airlines including crash-blighted Garuda Airlines from its aviation blacklist. Once reeling from a spate of deadly accidents, flag-carrier Garuda said it planned to resume flights to Europe as early as next year, and is also eyeing the lucrative US market. AFP PHOTO/ROMEO GACAD (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)

An Indonesia AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea in 2014 killing all on board had carried thousands of Australian passengers while flying with a mechanical fault for the 12 months before the tragedy.

Aviation experts were asked by the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent to track the plane 12 months before the crash while it had the mechanical fault. The details of the aircraft’s flight path over that period have been uncovered with disturbing questions raised about the role of Indonesia’s aviation regulator, including allegations of corruption.

There are now calls for the Indonesian arms of AirAsia to be suspended from flying to Australia until they pass an international safety audit.

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All 162 passengers and crew died when the Airbus 320 stalled at high altitude during a flight from Indonesia’s second-largest city Surabaya to Singapore on December 28, 2014.

Indonesian police and military personnel carry coffins with the remains of a passengers of the AirAsia flight 8501 in Surabaya, eastern Java island, on January 17, 2015. Indonesian divers again failed to reach the main body of an AirAsia plane that crashed into the sea last month with 162 people on board, as strong underwater currents hampered efforts. AFP PHOTO / Juni KRISWANTO (Photo credit should read JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty Images)

Thousands of Australians had flown on the damaged plane that eventually crashed en route to Singapore, killing 162 people. Photo: Getty

The final report into the crash, released in December last year, found the aircraft had a fault with its rudder limiter which went unfixed for 12 months before the crash.

Foreign Correspondent has revealed thousands of Australians had flown on the same aircraft while it had the fault.

Perth-based aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas said airlines like Qantas would never a fly a plane with that sort of defect.

“I believe there’s evidence around that some airlines that fly to Australia don’t meet international standards and they should be banned,” he said.

“It’s simply not good enough that you’ve got aeroplanes flying around with potentially catastrophic faults with them.”

The crash investigation report says the rudder limiter defect did not in itself cause the crash, but instead the flight crew’s reaction to a warning alarm about the fault was to blame.

Further, Indonesia AirAsia was not even approved to fly the route to Singapore on that day.

CASA increased spot checks on Indonesian planes

Directly after the crash, the Australian Transport Workers Union called for all Indonesian AirAsia flights to be suspended.

CASA spokesman Peter Gibson

Peter Gibson said CASA had determined the Indonesian safety system met required operational standards. Photo: ABC

The union raised the concerns again in a letter to Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester last week.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) increased spot checks of Indonesian planes in Australia directly after the 2014 AirAsia crash.

CASA’s spokesman Peter Gibson said it would not be appropriate to give a running commentary on individual airlines.

“But rest assured if any airline has issues remaining that need to be watched carefully then we continue to watch,” he said.

CASA confirmed the so called “ramp checks” on Indonesian planes are continuing.

‘Uncoordinated’ pilot bribed inspector to receive licence

There are also allegations that staff of the Indonesian equivalent of CASA, known as the DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation), have engaged in corrupt activities.

Among the claims is that one Indonesian pilot who failed a flight simulator test in Australia because he was deemed to be too “uncoordinated” to fly went on to receive his flying licence in Indonesia after a bribe was paid to an inspector.

That allegation was raised with both the Indonesian and Australian Transport Ministries at the time.

Aircraft technicians check the Rolls Royce engine of Garuda Indonesia's Airbus A330-300 aircraft at the company hangar in Jakarta airport on July 15, 2009. Indonesia, hoping for an upturn in European tourism, welcomed the EU's decision to remove four Indonesian airlines including crash-blighted Garuda Airlines from its aviation blacklist. Once reeling from a spate of deadly accidents, flag-carrier Garuda said it planned to resume flights to Europe as early as next year, and is also eyeing the lucrative US market. AFP PHOTO/ROMEO GACAD (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Indonesia’s national carrier, Garuda, is banned from flying to the US due to safety concerns. Australian authorities are satisfied with its safety standards. Photo: Getty

Mike, a whistleblower pilot and senior captain with 28,000 hours flying experience, also raised concerns about pilots’ qualifications during the program.

“We had an Indonesian co-pilot who we failed outright, he’d been with us a number of years, but we failed him outright and he came back and he joined one of the local airlines,” Mike told Foreign Correspondent.

All Indonesian-operated airlines are banned from flying into the United States, while Europe has also black listed most carriers with some exceptions.

CASA clears Indonesian airlines to fly to Australia

Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda can fly to Europe but not the US.

In contrast, Australia’s aviation watchdog CASA clears Garuda, Indonesian AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia X to fly to Australia.

“We have made our own assessments of the airline, of the Indonesian safety system and we believe that they are meeting the required international operational standards,” Mr Gibson said.

“If other parts of the world don’t do that then of course that’s a matter for them.”

The DGCA and AirAsia declined to be interviewed by Foreign Correspondent.

AirAsia says it has improved pilot training and maintenance standards since the crash and their full response can be found on Foreign Correspondent‘s Facebook page.

-ABC

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