A PILOT who failed to follow landing procedures and ignored his co-pilot's plea to abort, with their Boeing 737 "running wild", wants to fly again despite facing criminal negligence charges over the deaths of 21 people.

Marwoto Komar appeared in his full Garuda pilot's uniform at Sleman District Court yesterday, although he was sacked and his pilot's licence suspended after the crash in Yogyakarta in March 2007.

Telling reporters he felt a "deep mourning" for the families of the victims - who included five Australians - Komar said he wore the uniform because "I am a pilot". Asked if he hoped to fly again, he replied: "Of course, that is my life."

Prosecutors charged Komar with three counts of negligence and one of deliberately destroying or damaging an aircraft causing death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Komar refused to comment on the accident, in which the jet touched down at nearly double the safe speed, crashed through the airport's fence and caught fire.

The prosecutor Mudim Aristo told a five-judge panel that Komar had ignored the landing calculations of his co-pilot, Gagam Rahman, then ignored repeated automated warnings to abort. "He deliberately force-landed the plane by diving down in a steep manner until the ground proximity warning system gave off a signal 'sink rate, whoop, whoop, pull up'," Mr Aristo said.

Komar had ignored a further 14 warnings and brought the plane into the sharp dive before overshooting the runway, he said.

■ AAP reports that the European Union has continued its ban on all Indonesian airlines flying into its air space because of safety concerns.

with Karuni Rompies