Crash pilot's trial begins in Indonesia

Correspondents Report - Sunday, 27 July , 2008 BRENDAN TREMBATH: A former Garuda pilot is on trial in Indonesia, charged over the crash of a plane in March last year in which 21 people died, including five Australians. Indonesia correspondent, Geoff Thompson, covered the crash and is now covering the court case. He tells Correspondents Report how it feels to be face to face with the accused pilot. GEOFF THOMPSON: There's something unsettling about getting on a Garuda flight to Yogyakarta where there is a dangerously short runway in order to cover a story about Garuda flight to Yogyakarta which crashed on that same dangerously short runway. It didn't help that when landing there last Wednesday night to cover the next day trial of the doomed jet's pilot it felt like landing on an aircraft carrier, and when it stopped it turned... [read full story]