Garuda crash pilot 'wants to fly again'

An Indonesian pilot cleared of wrongdoing over a 2007 crash that killed 21 people,
including five Australians, says he wants to fly again.
The Yogyakarta High Court on Friday overturned Marwoto Komar's criminal negligence
conviction and two year prison sentence imposed earlier this year for the March 2007
crash at Yogyakarta airport.
The court ordered that the charges against Komar be dropped and he be returned to
his position.
Komar on Saturday said he was relieved by the verdict.
"At times like this, after all the troubles I've been through, I feel like my
prayers have been answered," he told AAP.
Komar said his "personal obsession" was to fly again.
"It is my personal intention to get my licence back," he said.
"Flying's been my life for more than 22 years.
"Until the end of time, flying will be my life."
Komar's licence was suspended in the wake of the crash and he was fired by national
carrier Garuda Indonesia.
Komar has worked as a car dealer, a taxi driver and a fertiliser seller during the
two and a half years since the crash. He said his family has struggled to survive on
his meagre earnings since losing his pilot's job.
"If I had died in the crash, then it would've been a great loss for me and the
family," he said.
"I survived but still it was difficult.
"I don't want anyone to pity me for what I've been through but this is what I've
experienced.
"I just hope all's well for the future."
Komar's lawyers believe prosecutors will not be able to appeal this week's court
decision to a higher court because of the order that the charges be dropped.
"The court has recognised that Marwoto did all he could to save the plane and that
if he hadn't, there would have been a higher number of casualties," lawyer Mohamad
Assegaf said.
Komar's Boeing 737 slammed onto the runway at Yogyakarta airport, careered into a
field and exploded in flames on March 7, 2007.
Five Australians were killed in the crash: diplomat Liz O'Neill, AusAID official
Allison Sudradjat, Australian Federal Police officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott,
and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish.
Investigators had argued Komar ignored a series of warnings not to land the plane as
he brought it in at about twice the safe speed. But Komar blamed the disaster on
mechanical problems.
The head of the Indonesian Pilots Federation, Manotar Napitupulu, welcomed the
court's verdict.
"The court stated that he should be reinstated in his position and that is not
impossible," Napitipulu said.
"Why not?
"If he passed all the tests, psychological test, physical test, performance test and
others, then why he could not fly a plane anymore?
"His profession is a pilot and he's already been punished."