Public prosecutors announced Friday that they have decided not to indict the pilot of a Garuda Indonesian Airways plane that crashed at Fukuoka airport in June 1996.
The actions of Ronald Longdong, 42, were not sufficiently negligent to warrant a criminal trial, the Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office said.
The DC-10 ran off a runway at the airport and burst into flames, killing three passengers and injuring 170 others after Longdong aborted takeoff because of engine trouble.
Longdong aborted the flight after the plane had already exceeded the speed at which a takeoff must be carried out.
Prosecutors judged Longdong's decision improper because of the accident. However, they took into account the fact that he made the decision only two seconds after noticing the trouble, they said.
Longdong has said he did not make the wrong decision, telling prosecutors in January last year that a more severe accident would likely have resulted if he had tried to get the plane airborne, prosecutors said.
In February 1998, Fukuoka Prefectural Police sent a file on the pilot to prosecutors alleging negligence resulting in deaths and injuries.
The airplane, carrying 275 passengers and crew, was to leave Fukuoka for Jakarta via Denpasar on Bali.
A Transport Ministry investigative panel released a report on the accident in November 1997, attributing the cause to pilot error.
Relatives of two of the three people killed have sued the airliner in the Fukuoka District Court, demanding some 260 million yen in compensation. The airliner has reached a redress deal with the family of the third victim.