The Singapore Police Force has classified its investigation into the crash of the SilkAir Boeing 737-300 in Sumatra on 19 December 1997 as "suicide cum murder".
The police stress that the label has been adopted "solely to assist us in our investigation. It is not an indication of our suspicion at this stage, nor should it be taken as a finding in relation to the case". They add that the aim of the investigation is to establish if there is "evidence of any criminal offence".
The Singaporean and Indonesian police forces are involved in the investigation, following the admission by the Indonesian Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC) that the crash may have been caused by a deliberate act of one of the pilots (Flight International, 1-7 September).
In an interview with local television, chief investigator Professor Oetarjo Diran said that the fact that the aircraft's horizontal stabiliser was set in a nose-down trim on impact had simply been overlooked until recently in the 20-month investigation. The AAIC has come under fire for refusing to divulge information relevant to the cause of the crash. The theory that the crash, which killed 104 people, was caused deliberately has been widely circulated.
Source: Flight International
