By Putu Deny Wijaya
Found To Operate 19 Troubled Aircraft, Citilink and GMF Aeroasia Receive Strict Warning
The Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation, sitting in the Ministry of Transportation, issued a warning to local-based carriers Citilink and GMF AeroAsia after the company continued to operate 19 aircraft that were experiencing technical issues with their braking systems. The warning was delivered in a letter dated Dec. 22 and signed by Director of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operations Dadun Kohar. The warning letter was addressed to the GMF AeroAsia accountability manager and Citilink’s vice president of engineering and maintenance.
According to the letter, based on the results of the corrective action discussion on the findings of the GMF AeroAsia audit on Dec. 17, the Ministry of Transportation found the Citilink Airbus A320 operated from Dec. 1-17 with a dummy brake assay still installed on the aircraft with tail number PK-GQJ.
“And in the last three months, there have been six brake occurrences [melting, jammed, rotor damage, over temperature].” Dadun wrote in this letter.
The Ministry of Transportation also sent a warning letter to GMF AeroAsia In this letter, the Ministry of Transportation asked GMF AeroAsia to immediately repair the brakes on the hold item list (HIL) — a list of work orders that were suspended because parts or equipment were not available or could not be used — on 19 Citilink A320 aircraft. The company is also asked to immediately review the HIL status from August to December 2021 to ensure that the HIL closing is truly appropriate.
GMF was also asked to immediately identify the serial number of the problematic components to be removed from the aircraft and stored in a quarantine area. The Ministry of Transportation also asked the company to ensure that the problem of unavailability of spare parts and supply chain management does not become a latent hazard that affects…