What happened
A demonstration flight departed from Jakarta-Halim Perdanakasuma Airport at 14:00 local time with a crew of four and 41 passengers, who were prospective buyers. Approximately thirty minutes into the flight, while maneuvering around Mount Salak, the pilots were cleared to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet despite low visibility conditions. During this descent, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 struck the edge of a cliff and subsequently crashed, with the wreckage being destroyed by the force of the impact and a post-crash fire.
At the time of the accident, weather conditions were marginal, characterized by clouds covering both Mount Gede and Mount Salak. Search and rescue teams reached the site 18 hours after the event. There were 45 fatalities and no survivors among the occupants. The aircraft involved had a total of 843 flight hours and was manufactured on August 9, 2009.
Findings
Investigations revealed that the flight crew lacked sufficient awareness regarding the mountainous terrain near their flight path. This lack of situational awareness was attributed to inadequate briefings, issues with available charts, and distractions caused by non-operational conversations among the crew. These factors led to an inappropriate response to a Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) alert; investigators noted that the collision could have been prevented if the pilot had taken corrective action within 24 seconds of the initial warning.
Additionally, the Jakarta Radar service had failed to establish minimum vectoring altitudes for the area. The radar system was also not equipped with a functioning Minimum Safe Altitude Warning (MSAW) for the vicinity of Mount Salak. Because the crew was distracted by conversation, the pilot flying did not maintain a consistent heading while orbiting, which caused the aircraft to unintentionally drift out of its intended flight path.