Jakarta Post, "Investigator chief denies his reported statement over plane crash"

Chairman of the National Committee on Transportation Safety, or KNKT, Tatang Kurniadi Monday denied his reported statement on the recent plane fire that the accident was caused by differences between pilot and co-pilot. "There is no such a statement. They made up the story," Tatang was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

It was reported previously that Tatang told the Australia's Nine Network that the airliner's cockpit audio recordings revealed that the pilot and co-pilot were arguing over their speed and wing flap angles moments before the crash. The captain and co-pilot, who were among the 119 survivors of the tragedy, were flying together for the first time. The captain had "enough experience" after flying more than 15,000 hours, while the co-pilot was a "young pilot" with 2,000 flying hours,he said.

The co-pilot demanded the pilot "go around" - abandon the landing attempt and make a second approach, Kurniadi said. Tatang, however, said Monday that the procedure of the investigation ruled that conversation between pilot and co-pilot could not be revealed publicly, including conversation between pilot and air traffic authority. He admitted that the plane had posed overshoot landing, which may be caused by overspeed. "But it does not mean that there is coordination and communication mistake," he added.