Pilots Express Concerns About Safety At Indonesian Airline

“Every time you flew, you had to fight with the ground staff and themanagement about all the regulations you had to violate,” FeisalBanser, 30, a former captain for Adam Air, has told The Associated Press. An Adam Air 737 wentmissing on Jan. 1 with 102 people on board; the wreck has still notbeen found. In May 2005, a group of 17 pilots jointly resigned fromthe airline, citing alleged safety concerns, the AP said. The airlineis now suing them, saying they violated their contracts and mustrefund money the airline spent on their training. Banser says he wasgrounded for a week in 2005 after he refused to fly because he hadalready flow five takeoffs, the daily limit. When the airline startedup four years ago, pilots lined up to sign on. But within months, atleast 20 left, citing safety concerns, according to the AP. “Ididn’t want to wait until I had lost my friends,” said Banser, andadded that he knew several crew members on the missing jet.