Pilots protest over Garuda arrest

The pilots say are supported by international pilots' groups

Pilots from Indonesia's Garuda national airline have protested in Jakarta over the arrest of one of their colleagues.

Marwoto Komar was questioned by police on Monday as part of an investigation into a crash at Yogyakarta airport in March 2007 which killed 21 people.

Mr Komar is accused of ignoring repeated warnings that he was approaching the runway too fast.

The pilots object to the case being criminalised and want it to be overseen by members of their profession.

Flight GA200 was carrying 140 passengers when it crashed into paddy fields on landing and burst into flames at Yogyakarta, 440km (270 miles) south-east of Jakarta.

A report by Indonesia's National Transport Safety Committee said that Mr Komar ignored 15 warnings against landing.

He has been charged with five offences including negligence causing deaths and the destruction of an aircraft and could face more than five years in jail.

'Raised eyebrows'

Mr Komar has been under police supervision since the crash.

In Pictures: the crash scene

He was questioned for several hours on Monday and his lawyer, Kamal Firdaus, said he was exhausted.

"He felt that he had already done everything to save the passengers and the plane but he is still being blamed," said Mr Firdaus.

Another lawyer, Muhammad Assegaf, said there was no basis for the arrest and that the case had "raised a lot of eyebrows among the global aviation community".

The protesting pilots want Indonesia to establish a civil tribunal to investigate airline safety.

In a statement read out to legislators, the chairman of the Indonesian Pilots Federation, Manotar Napitupulu, said that the "criminalisation of pilots will put pilots under pressure in carrying out their job".

He told Reuters news agency that the federation had received support from pilots' groups across the world.

Indonesia relies on air travel to connect its many islands, but old planes and inadequate investment mean the country has one of the worst aviation safety records in the world.