AirAsia pilot was one of military academy's best

Iriyanto started his career as an F-5 and F-16 fighter pilot after graduating from the Adisucipto air force pilot school in Yogyakarta in 1983. 

He joined the 14th squadron at Iswahjudi Air Force Base in Madiun, East Java, staying for around 10 years. 

“He was one of the best graduates,” said former cabinet minister Djoko Suyanto, who once trained Iriyanto, as quoted by Tempo.co.

Adisucipto Air Base commander First Marshal Yadi I Sutanadika deemed Iriyanto a “smart pilot”.

“Iriyanto was known as one of the flight leaders on F-5 Tigers, the leading fighter jet in the 1980s,” Yadi, who once served with Iriyanto in the 14th squadron, said on Monday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

In the mid-1990s, Iriyanto took early retirement and landed a job with commercial airline Adam Air, which was forced to close in 2008 after a string of accidents.

Iriyanto also served with Merpati Airlines and Sriwijaya Air before joining AirAsia.

AirAsia said Iriyanto had logged a total of 20,537 flying hours, of which 6,053 were logged during his tenure with AirAsia, while the co-pilot, French national Remi Emmanual Plesel, had 2,247 hours.

Iriyanto, born on December 12, 1961, married Widya Sukati Putri before set?tling in Sidoarjo, East Java – an hour’s drive from Surabaya in the same province where Flight QZ8501 departed for Singapore on Sunday.

The couple have two children – Angela Anggi Ranastianis, 25, and eight-year-old Arya Galih Gegana.

“Papa, come home, I still need you. Bring back my papa. Papa, please come home. Papa needs to be found. Papa should come home,” Angela wrote on her Path page late on Sunday, begging for her father to come home after the aircraft, carrying 162 people, disappeared that morning.

Iriyanto, who has a penchant for classic motorcycles, is a member of the local-big motorcycle club MBC.

Three days before his last flight, he went to Yogyakarta to commemorate the seventh day of the death of his younger brother, Edi, as well as to take a vacation with his family. Edi died from illness.

“The last time I met Mas Ir [Iriyanto] was three days ago,” said Hendro Kusumo Broto, Iriyanto’s cousin, as quoted in Kompas.com on Sunday. 

According to Hendro, Iriyanto went to Yogyakarta with his two children, but later left that city for Surabaya to go to work, while his two children stayed in Yogyakarta on vacation.

Iriyanto reportedly was known to his neighbours for active social engagement and was active in the community in Sidoarjo where he lived, serving as a head of the neighbourhood unit for two years.

He “put potted plants on the sidewalks from the main entrance [of the neighbourhood unit] so that it looked green”, said Bagianto Djojonegoro, an adviser to the community unit where his residence is located.

According to Bagianto, Iriyanto, who flew about four times a week, often spent his days off with his family and neighbours. The missing pilot was also known for being active in the mosque.

Iriyanto’s neighbours gathered and conducted prayers for his safety at his house in Pondok Jati housing complex in Sidoarjo on Sunday evening.