Silkair Flight 185
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Silkair Flight 185 was a scheduled passenger service from Jakarta, Indonesia to Singapore. On December 19, 1997, the ill-fated flight was being operated by Boeing 737-300, tail number 9V-TRF.
All 97 passengers, 5 cabin crew, the Singaporean captain Tsu Way Ming, and the copilot, New Zealander Duncan Ward, died when the aircraft, in a nearly vertical attitude, impacted the Musi River near Palembang, Sumatra following an abrupt descent. The aircraft broke off into pieces before impact, as commercial aircraft are not designed to handle such intense G-forces and speeds. The debris spread over several kilometres, with the debris of one engine falling far away from the main body. There was not a complete body, body part or limb found, as the entire aircraft and passengers disintegrated before impact.
After the crash, there was substantial speculation at the pilot deliberately crashed the aircraft in a mass homicide/suicide. A 2004 court decision in the United States ruled, however, that the crash was caused by a defective servo valve in the plane's rudder. The rudder manufacturer, Parker Hannifin, was ordered to pay the three families of victims involved in that case US$3.4 million.<ref name="newsasia2004">"SilkAir crash families finally receive answers with court verdict", Channel NewsAsia, July 15, 2004.</ref>
In the aftermath of the crash, several potential motives for Tsu's suicide were suggested, including recent financial losses, his taking out of insurance on his life the previous week, his receipt of several recent disciplinary actions on the part of the airline. However, investigations later discovered his assets were greater than his financial losses, therefore that was not a clear motive for suicide. He had also reportedly had several conflicts with Ward, the co-pilot.<ref name="keys1998">Laurinda Keys, Suicide is possible cause of jet crash, officials say pilot had history of troublesome behavior. Associated Press, March 11, 1998.</ref>
Tsu was formerly a Republic of Singapore Air Force pilot and had over twenty years of flying experience in the A-4SU and TA-4SU Super SkyHawks. His last appointment was instructor pilot of a SkyHawk squadron. Due to his flying experience, it was also highly unlikely that the aircraft lost control or fell into a stall of spin, as he would have had the experience to overcome such stalls and spins.
The circuit breakers for the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were tripped minutes before the abrupt descent, however there was no conclusive evidence whether this was the action of the pilot or otherwise.
The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, which led the investigation, was not able to find any conclusive cause and even several years after the fact, many conspiracy theories abound. Skeptics point to other difficult to explain accidents involving 737s which showed signs of quirky flight controls such as uncommanded rudder deflection, including USAir Flight 427 and United Airlines Flight 585.[citation needed] The pilot suicide theory and controversy is very similar to that of EgyptAir Flight 990.
Among those killed in the crash were Singaporean author Bonnie Hicks.
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