National
Transportation
Safety
Committee
Aircraft Accident Report
SILKAIR FLIGHT MI 185
BOEING B737-300
9V-TRF
MUSI RIVER, PALEMBANG, INDONESIA
19 DECEMBER 1997
Jakarta, 14 December 2000
Department of Communications
Republic of Indonesia
Investigation of Aircraft Accident
SilkAir Flight MI 185
Boeing B737-300, 9V-TRF
Musi River, Palembang, Indonesia
19 December 1997
FINAL REPORT
Note:
• All times indicated in this report are based on FDR UTC time.
Local time is UTC + 7 hours.
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Abstract
This report is on the accident involving the SilkAir flight MI 185, a Boeing B737-300,
which crashed into the Musi river near Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, on 19
December 1997, at about 16:13 local time (09:13 UTC).
SilkAir flight MI 185 was operating as a scheduled passenger flight from Jakarta
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Singapore Changi Airport.
The flight departed about 15:37 local time with 97 passengers, five cabin crew and two
cockpit crew.
The airplane descended from its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and impacted the Musi
river, near the village of Sunsang, about 30 nautical miles north-north-east of Palembang
in South Sumatra.
Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an
instrument flight rules flight plan.
Prior to the sudden descent from 35,000 feet, the flight data recorders stopped recording
at different times. There were no mayday calls transmitted from the airplane prior or
during the descent.
All 104 persons on board did not survive the accident, and the airplane was completely
destroyed by impact forces. Except parts of the empennage that found on land, most of
the wreckage was found buried in the bottom of the Musi river.
About 73 percent by weight of wreckage was recovered, although due to the magnitude of
destruction of the airplane, the small mangled pieces precluded finding clues, evidence or
proof as to what have happened, how and why.
The safety issues in this report focused on the areas of flight operations, the flight data
recorders, the human factors and control systems malfunctions.
The investigation yielded very limited data and information to make conclusions possible.
The report is pursuant to the technical investigation conducted by the National
Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) of Indonesia.
The investigation was conducted in accordance with the standards and recommended
practices of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. In accordance
with Annex 13, the sole objective of the investigation of an accident or incident shall be
the prevention of accidents and incidents. It is not the purpose of this activity to apportion
blame or liability.
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Table of Contents
Errata
Abstract i
Abbreviations vii
Glossary of Terms x
1 FACTUAL INFORMATION 1
1.1 History of Flight 1
Synopsis 1
1.2 Injuries to Persons 1
1.3 Damage to Aircraft 2
1.4 Other Damage 2
1.5 Personnel Information 2
1.5.1 Pilot-In-Command (PIC) 2
1.5.2 First Officer (F/O) 2
1.6 Aircraft Information 3
1.6.1 Aircraft Data 3
1.6.2 Aircraft History 3
1.6.3 Weight and Balance 4
1.7 Meteorological Information 4
1.7.1 General Weather Condition over South Sumatra 4
1.7.2 Weather Report over Palembang and Its Surroundings 4
1.7.3 Information on Wind Directions and Strength 4
1.7.4 Weather En-route 5
1.8 Aids to Navigation 5
1.9 Communications 5
1.10 Aerodrome Information 5
1.11 Flight Recorders 6
1.11.1 FDR 6
1.11.2 FDR Data Recovery 6
1.11.3 CVR 7
1.12 Wreckage and Impact Information 7
1.12.1 Aircraft Structures 8
1.12.1.1 Wings 9
1.12.1.2 Fuselage 9
1.12.1.3 Empennage 10
1.12.1.4 Horizontal Tailplane 10
1.12.1.5 Vertical Tailplane 12
1.12.2 Power plants 12
1.12.2.1 Engine 13
1.12.2.2 Main Engine Control (MEC) / Governor 13
1.12.2.3 Throttle Box 14
1.12.3 PCU and Actuator Tear Down and Examination 14
1.12.3.1 Tear Down Activities 14
1.12.3.2 Spoiler/Flap/Slat/Thrust Reverser Actuators 15
1.12.3.3 Actuators Found in Non-neutral Position 15
1.12.4 Other Aircraft Components 17
1.13 Medical and Pathological Information 17
1.14 Fire 17
1.15 Survival Aspects 18
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1.16 Tests and Research 18
1.16.1 CVR Circuit Breaker Actuation Test 18
1.16.2 Captain Seat Belt Buckle Sound Test 19
1.16.3 Voice Recognition of ATC Recording using Audio Spectral Analysis 20
1.16.4 Trajectory Studies 20
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